Unlimited Role Reversal
by finaljedimaster
Summary: Emiya Arturia summons a Hero of Camelot, Tohsaka Shirou gets a confused Counter Guardian and Matou Medusa would have prefered not getting a priestess of Angra Mainyu. This ought to be a short War.
1. Chapter 1

**Masters, come forth!**

_Now's my chance! _She threw a vertical slash at her opponent, who seemed surprised for a moment but quickly regained her bearings.

Unfortunately, her short stature did not allow her to actually get a good attack in from that distance, resulting in her adversary simply blocking her assault. She was pushed back, losing her footing in the process. While she noticed the other one's attack in time, her quick block was all but useless.

She felt her boken forcefully leaving her arms and couldn't help but curse under her breath as she fell on her butt. Her opponent stood proud in front of her, little to no sweat on her brow and giant grin on her face.

"That was a good match, Arturia-chan," the woman said, extending a hand to help her up.

"I agree, Fujimura-nee," Arturia responded resignedly.

She heard Fujimura chuckle as she pulled her to her feet. The match had been shorter than usual, but also far more intense than one would expect at that hour in the morning. Alas, things weren't exactly normal in the Emiya household.

The woman in front of Arturia was Fujimura Taiga, an English teacher, a kendo practitioner who would have become a national champion were it not for the small tiger strap dangling from her _Tora Shinai..._and her current guardian following her father's death ten years before.

"Still, Arturia-chan, if you keep getting better, you will best me in no time. Why don't you want to join the kendo club again?" Her guardian asked the same question that half the school had. In all honesty, she was sorry about it, but there was little she could do. In between school, work and _that _she hardly had time for kendo anymore. In the end, kendo wasn't enough to fulfill her promise to Kiritsugu.

"_I promise I'll become a hero."_

As she prepared for school, she couldn't help but think about her dream. It had been a childish promise, but she had dedicated everything to that oath. She was closer to being a hero than before, but in the end it wasn't enough. After all, a normal human couldn't become a true hero. No matter how much she trained her body and mind, she would still be just a vigilante at best. No, to help people she needed something to set her apart.

Magecraft. When Kiritsugu had told her he was a magus, she had thought they were like the wizards of fairy tales. Now, after more than 10 years of training, she saw that clearly wasn't the case.

Her abilities were pathetic as far as magic was concerned. Strengthening was her only ability and she succeeded at that one once in a blue moon. The amount of concentration required and the pain it caused made it incredibly useless in actual combat.

Besides, what use was going at twice your normal speed when someone was hurling fireballs at you? Strengthening an object was even harder and even less useful. Analysis was as useless as a pair of binoculars in a fight. Alteration and Projection were so out of her range, it wasn't even funny.

Still, she persisted. She was sure she'd figure it out eventually...

"Morning, Arturia-senpai." That irritating voice could belong only to one person.

"Morning, Medusa." She responded to her friend with experienced calm. In spite of all odds, she and Medusa were getting along. She, calm and polite, and Medusa, sultry and cunning. An interesting pair to see in action. The fact that they all but lived together was hardly any help in untangling the mess that was their relationship. Arturia herself wasn't sure why she was friends with Medusa. The only thing that came to mind was that she could cook well, which was a strangely rare thing in their high school. Even their builds were complete opposites: Arturia was short and thin, while Medusa was tall and voluptous.

Medusa herself probably had no idea why she came there everyday.

"Itadakimasu." The young Emiya dug into her food quickly, not wanting to waste any time. School wasn't exactly close and the match against Fujimura had been quite tiring. Medusa watched her carefully from across the table, but ate her own serving quietly enough. Of course, the silence only lasted until her guardian burst in and happily helped herself with what was left on the table.

"I'm in a hurry, so I'll leave you for now. Don't you dare skip school!" Taiga shouted as she ran off to school, leaving the two alone.

The awkward silence continued until the end of the meal, making the atmosphere strangely tense.

"Is there something wrong, Medusa?" Arturia wasn't used to her friend being silent. She had seen it before, especially when Medusa was in deep thought, but now it seemed almost worrying. The girl was occasionally looking up at her, but otherwise ate her meal in silence. As it was, the girl hadn't even given a reaction to her question. "Medusa!"

The girl jumped up, positioning her arms as if to defend herself. As far as Arturia knew, the girl got into a lot of fights, but this reaction was extreme even for her. She directed her look at her friend's hand and noticed a strange mark, as if someone started a tattoo but didn't finish it.

"What? Sorry, I was..." Medusa trailed off, biting her lip. _Something is very wrong here _Arturia thought with a grimace.

"Are you getting into fights again?" Arturia asked as politely as possible. The last time something like that had happened, two buildings had burned to the ground and tens of people were hospitalized. Battles between gangs were pretty dangerous, and Medusa usually got involved one way or another. The fact that she spent so much time with Taiga and her grandfather was probably the reason.

"No, it's- I mean yes that's it!" The girl was a good liar most of the time, but she could never really fool Arturia, as far as she knew. Still, she seemed vaguely vehement about it.

"You don't have to lie. We all have our secrets, but" Arturia stopped for a second "remember we're friends, all right? If you need help, I'll be right here." She made her point by picking up her shinai and pointing it at Medusa.  
The girl seemed surprised. Still, a smile appeared on her face.  
"I'll keep that in mind," She replied. "We have to get to school though."  
Arturia instantly panicked. Picking up her bag she started to dash to the front door, only to be stopped by her friend.  
"Calm down, this is what you have me for." The girl lazily stepped outside and pointed at her left.  
Arturia couldn't help the grin that split her face. 

* * *

"Finally..." Tohsaka Shirou muttered as he opened the box on his table. The code to his father's will had been extremely hard to decipher and he'd been just about to give up when he'd at last cracked it.

He had had half a mind to just throw the stupid thing away if he couldn't open it. Or better yet, crack that priest's head with it. With his trembling hands, he opened the old box. Inside, there was what looked like a broken sword of some kind and a pendant. Brushing his fingers over the pendant, he felt an extraordinary power emanating from it. It would have taken him at least 15 years to gather that much magical energy.  
Still, it was a disappointment. The sword-like thing was in pieces and he doubted it was of much use that way. Sure, the pendant would get him out of a tough situation, but a catalyst would have got him a powerful Servant with which to win the war.

_Oh well, at least I'll get one with a similar personality. _Shirou was nothing if not optimistic. Honestly speaking, he was hoping for an Archer Class Servant, because he himself was quite good at close combat and he would be able to do much with a support servant.

Letting go of the thoughts of the Holy Grail War, he stuffed the pendant in his pocket and looked at the clock. He froze.

"Eight? Darn, school's started for a while," he said to himself. Brushing his eyes, he ran to get ready. He was sure he looked like hell, having spent the whole night cracking the damn thing. _Damn you, father! _He thought, running a comb through his hair.

Quickly taking his uniform and his bag, he sprinted to school. The last thing he needed was to lose his Honor Student prestige. Gilgamesh would never live it down. Nor would Medea, for that matter.

It took him no more than 5 minutes to get to school with minimum Reinforcement, almost a third of his usual time. However, he instantly noticed something was wrong with the school. It was too...empty.

"Oh? If it isn't Tohsaka!" A voice came from behind him. Turning around, he noticed Medea gracefully coming his way. "Isn't this early for you? You usually barely make it in time."

Shirou wasn't sure what was going on, but he had the suspicion his clocks weren't exactly correct, which was really eating at him. If he remembered correctly, he'd last checked them 2 days ago. Besides, he hadn't been early the day before, so...

"Are you perhaps ignoring me, Tohsaka-kun?" Medea's voice turned cold and dangerous. Shirou would be the first to admit he was occasionally dense about girl stuff, but this triggered all sorts of alarm bells in his mind.

"Not at all, Medea-san, I'm merely impressed you keep getting more graceful everyday." Gilgamesh had told him it was a good idea to compliment a woman to get her off your back and, while he had initially thought the priest was trying to get him in trouble, ended up using that tactic pretty often, especially against Medea, with varying degrees of success.

"Oh my, always the flatterer, Shirou-kun," the girl replied, giggling. He simply smirked.

Still, the fact remained that he was early today. Not by much, but there was some time for him to plan a bit, maybe see if the school grounds would serve as good headquarters for the duration of the war. Or better, think on what could have caused his clocks to malfunction because he'd be damned if he let that go.

* * *

"HAHA!" Arturia shouted, causing Medusa to burst out laughing. If she had known her friend enjoyed this so much, she would have done it sooner. With a smirk, she raised the speed of the motorcycle even further, making Arturia hold on to her tightly.

Spending time with the girl was a relief. She was fairly straightforward, and while that calmness had really ground on her nerves, spending time with her made it easy to ignore the less...savoury parts of her own life. The fact that the girl thought of her as a friend was touching. She didn't think she really deserved that title from anyone, much less Emiya Arturia, whom she was using as a board to hold on to.

In the end, Matou Medusa was nothing more than a broken, empty doll. Before she had met Arturia, she was simply an empty existence, as her family's training had made sure of.

After meeting that girl, she decided to at least pretend to live, not for her own sake, but for her friend's. The whole 'cool' persona was just a mask that she found easy to hide behind. Japan was full of crazy students, one more would not make a difference.

Not for the first time, she wondered what her older brother thought about her. Not Shinji, her real brother. Alas, they were forbidden from interacting. It was probably for the better, hoping he never found out about her training. He was talented, but he had no chance against her grandfather.

Imagining his disappointed face at her current actions, she found herself speeding even further.

_It shouldn't matter! _She thought with a grimace _What right does he have to judge me?_

And it was that point that made her feel even stupider. Shirou wouldn't care. He wouldn't judge her, no matter how much she deserved it. That was just the sort of person her brother was.

"Medusa-chan? A-are you alright?" Arturia sounded worried for some reason. Looking up, she noticed they had passed the school for a while.

"I was just thinking, sorry," she replied, making a quick 180 degrees turn.

"It's not that, just..." Medusa was getting worried. Had she done anything strange? Then, she felt something cold touch her cheek. Was it raining?

She wiped her cheek, only to find it was her own tear.

The thought send chills down her spine. With a deep breath, she threw away all thoughts of her brother.

Her grandfather had probably felt the emotion though. It was a small thing, but he was a man that could work with less.

Throwing the thoughts further away, she parked the motorcycle in front of the school.

The place was emptier than she'd thought it you would be. She was pretty sure she hadn't gone over double the speed limit...probably.

The only people who were easily notifiable were a usual pair: the honour student with perfect grades and attendance record, kind but aloof with natural red hair; and the student council president, nice, smart and beautiful among others.

Tohsaka Shirou and Ryuudou Medea turned to them at the same time. Medusa wasn't sure what to say about either of their looks.

Medea was clearly about to lash out at her. To say they had never got along was an understatement. Their perspectives were so different, they almost paralleled each other.

Shirou's gaze seemed impartial, but she could easily detect the hint of eagerness in his eyes. She didn't want to know what he wanted to do, but she didn't want to guess. Clearly, the heir of the Tohsaka's wouldn't want anything to do with her.

"This is clearly going too far!" Despite her usually calm demeanour, Medea had a good pair of lungs on her. "The fact that the headmaster allowed you to come to school on that monstrosity was a miracle in and of itself, but to think you would drag Arturia into it!"

Medusa looked away with a wince. She knew Arturia had wanted to come, but she had to admit it would have looked like a kidnapping to anyone who only knew Arturia from a distance.

"Ryudou-san, it was my idea," her friend said, putting herself between them. Had she been any less stoic, her face would have mirrored a drowning fish's. Medea seemed to agree with her.

"Arturia-chan, I know she's your friend, but you can't cover for her like this!" Medea looked almost desperate. Medusa felt a pang strike her heart. She knew the two were friends and, as much as she disliked the council president, didn't want them to fight like this.

"Arturia, don't worry," she told the blonde. The Emiya turned to her with wide eyes and she continued with a smirk. "I'm used to this. It happens everyday."

Arturia seemed about as ready to believe her as to flying. Thankfully, Shirou intervened.

"Now, now, calm down, you lot." His voice was aloof, but he there was some amusement leaking through. "It's too early in the morning for this much shouting."

"I agree." The second voice was unexpected. Turning around, the four noticed their History teacher, Kojiro, looking at them with a grin. "Such beautiful flowers shouldn't be fighting in the first place."

If the four of them, all known one way or another, hadn't got the attention of the school, Kojiro-sensei definitely did. In a way, this was an all-star meeting. There would be talks about it for weeks.

_As if we needed more attention, right before the Grail War!_

* * *

The basement was dark. That was not something that made it stand out, but Hassan felt it was a way to calm down the laughter that had been going through him at full throttle.

"Guilt!" he shouted hysterically, "Sadness! Envy! So many emotions at once!"

It wasn't even his birthday! Or at least he doubted it was. The years did go on quite quickly.

Still, the fact was that his puppet, as broken as she'd painted herself, had just revealed a gigantic crack in that armour of hers.

And that armour was called Emiya Arturia. The irony was enough to launch him in another burst of laughter. To think the daughter of Emiya would have such a connection to the heir of the Matou! Tohsaka's other child didn't seem all that distant either! This Holy Grail War was bound to look like a soap opera!

_And there is nothing wrong with that! _He was quite happy with it, in fact. He had planned to send Shinji in, but this was a hundred times better. He would send her to kill her oh-so-dear Emiya, then, with her spirit completely broken, he would use her to get the Holy Grail.

The Einzbern were quite a problem, but he was sure he could handle them with Medusa's power. Besides, they were bound to want revenge on Emiya, so he could use that too...

If it all came to naught, he could simply steal a Servant and be done with it. He had created the Command Seals and it was about time to put that knowledge to use.

His plans were half-formed already, Archer and Assassin were already accounted for, thankfully, but there were a few variables to watch out for.

First, the overseer wasn't about to keel over any time soon. Gilgamesh was about as whimsical as they come, and he had kept his Servant, Assassin, from the last war. If he found any kind of reason to interfere, things would be quite complicated.

Secondly, the Association had sent in a Master of their own, a so called 'Chulainn' if his sources were to be trusted. Some sort of Enforcer, no doubt. He'd either be an obstacle or a pawn, and his plans would adjust accordingly.

Last, but not least, the question of who would summon Berserker was troubling him. The Emiya girl seemed too interested in swords to summon anyone but Saber, and the Tohsaka wouldn't be stupid enough to take Berserker. He'd take either Caster or Rider. Medusa would take the other and the only one left would be Berserker. God knew who'd summon that, but he would probably keel over right away.

_Hmm, I'll have to look over this again, it's too fragile a plan..._

* * *

He waited. If he had anything, it was time. _She _would be here in any moment. Today was just a test ride, to see if she was worth anything.

Emiya. That name rang in his ears, made him want to rip something to shreds. His father had left him for this _Arturia _person, and he'd see what it was that had surpassed even blood, enough to cast away his family, his son.

Slowly, people started pouring in his direction. Students, most likely.

Soon enough, he noticed her. How could he not? Blond hair was rare in Japan, and green eyes only slightly less so.

He watched her walk up the hill, a passive grace in her movements, born most likely from practice. Clearly, the girl was unusual. She was also clearly _non-magical._ Absolutely no magic emanated from her. Non. Nada.

The idea terrified him. Had his father gone so far to even cast away his magic? What had happened in that stupid War?!

"_Calm yourself, Master." _The voice snapped him out of his trance. His Servant was right, as always. He needed to control his impulses, else...

To hell with it, he'd go talk with the girl.

"Hey, girl," he said, flashing her his best smirk. Arturia turned around quickly, and with her two more people, a boy and a girl. "Name's Hercules, might I know yours?" He was sure she was that girl, but he needed to cover every possibility.

"My name is Emiya Arturia, Hercules-san." The girl replied smoothly, if a bit coldly. He didn't doubt she'd sensed that he was unusual. The ones around were even more tense, however.

He wasn't making enough progress with the interrogation, so he decided on a more direct method of approach.

Surprisingly enough, the girl dodged his punch and attacked him with a wooden sword. Said wooden sword proved to be more than it seemed at first glance, hitting his Reinforced arm without breaking.

"Oh, my, you're actually a Magus aren't you?" He gave off the impression of being calm, but he was seething inside. How had she hidden her prana?

He most definitely didn't expect to be hit by what he approximated to be a fireball. He actually had to create a small magical barrier to block, else he'd have been burned quite a bit.

Throwing a look at the boy, he recognized the heir of the Tohsaka. Realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Emiya had been living in Fuyuki all this time, so of course she was allied with both the Tohsaka and the Matou.

Indeed, looking at the second girl, he recognized the violet hair that was quite specific to that clan.

The situation had gotten interesting. He couldn't handle this directly, not yet. He would wait for the war to start, so he could crush them in all their glory.

"See you soon, Tohsaka, Emiya, Matou. Tell your families the Einzbern send their best regards." Just like that, he let Archer take him away.

This was going to be a fun War.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summon and conquer.**

Shirou wasn't sure what he'd done wrong. Just that morning, he had believed himself capable of going through the War without a hitch.

Now, it had all gone to hell.

First, he found out Emiya Arturia, a person he'd always found to be honest and caring, which was about as anti-magus as one could be, was now not only a magus, but a Master, too!

Secondly, the Einzbern Master was a monster. When he'd first seen him, he more closely resembled a Servant than a magus. The guy was _huge, _and the moment he started emitting prana he almost seemed to grow _bigger_. He'd used one of his strongest jewels and it hadn't even scratched him! And his servant, whoever he was, could be felt without even materialising!

Thirdly, Medusa, who he had expected to join him in the defence of their common friend, had just sat there and done nothing. Nothing magical at least, for she had apparently drawn a small knife from her jacket, but he still refused believe she wouldn't use magecraft in such a situation. As it turned out, she couldn't. She wouldn't tell him why, but she apparently couldn't use magic. He hadn't been able to pry further, due to the interference of her grandfather, who he was quite sure hadn't been there a second ago.

He wondered whether he could afford to attack the Matou residence once he summoned his Servant. Surely, a hero would agree that it was for the better of humanity?

"I am sorry to interrupt, Tohsaka-san, but perhaps you could give me some more information?" Shirou turned to Arturia, who's patience had apparently run out. They had settled in his living room after he'd given her a quick recap: he was the Second Owner of Fuyuki, a magus from a rather long line and a Master in the Grail War that was about to start in a few days. After that, he'd started thinking.

"Well, I suppose there's no choice." He doubted there was anything else he could do to help the girl. In the end, this was a war, one that had no issue with dragging in the innocent. "Essentially, this whole thing comes up to a battle royale between seven Masters and their Servants, who the Holy Grail summons from the Throne of Heroes." Arturia looked slightly less confused, but seemed to wait for more. "The pair who wins gets any wish they want granted."

That seemed to make sense of the girl's random thoughts. Still, she clearly wanted to know more. Sighing to himself, he gestured for the girl to ask whatever she wanted.

"So we just fight? Aren't there rules, or perhaps some sort of judge?" The idea made the Tohsaka snort. As if magi would ever allow anyone to preside over their battles.

"Technically speaking, there is a supervisor, but his only job is to stop us from revealing magic to the populace. He also provides a safe haven to those who get their Servants killed, but..." Shirou winced at the idea of anyone being let alone with Gilgamesh. Sure, he could defend against any Master, but he was also whimsical, easily insulted and just as likely to kill anyone as to guard them. "Let's just say you're better off taking your chances with the Masters."

Arturia seemed to accept the idea, which made him realise the exact position he found himself in: he had another Master in his house, relying on him for everything and, from what he knew of her, unlikely to try and kill people to power up her own Servant. In other words, a person that could help him win the Grail War if he only asked.

The idea was beyond tempting. She might not have been a powerful magus, but if her Servant was strong enough, she wouldn't need to be. There was little doubt in his mind that a kendo star like her would summon Saber. With the combined might of Saber and, hopefully, Archer, he would be able to wipe out some of the competition with ease. Combined with the Bounded Field over his house, it meant he could attempt dozens of strategies with little risk. If he did this correctly...

"Arturia-san?" he asked, quite sure he was smirking evilly. "What would you say of an alliance?"

* * *

"This is boring." The voice of his visitor made Gilgamesh growl. The temptation to put the Enforcer out of his misery was growing. He had been complaining the whole day, clearly waiting for the War to start. The priest's patience was running really thin. It would be oh so easy to pull out one of his Mystic Codes...

"Hey, Gil! Ya know any bars around here?" The magus was quite clearly going to annoy him until he'd tell him. Alas, such things were uninteresting and he had better things to do than check out the bars in Fuyuki.

"You are getting stupider everyday, dog. I'm a _priest, _in case you've forgotten."

"Yeah, I'll believe that one when I see the sky go green. You're an Executor of the Church, supervising a murder game between people who, according to that book of yours, practice witchcraft, or whatever. I'm quite sure that's not the kind of person who holds mass every Sunday."

He wondered if anyone would seriously miss the Enforcer if he happened to get run over by a car. Then again, maybe there was a way to handle this...

"I might have something for you to do, though." The magus' attention was clearly piqued. Gilgamesh could feel his own grin widen. "After all, Grail War or not, you are supposed to announce your presence to the Second Owner. That he also happens to be a Master is just two at the price of one." He looked the Enforcer in the eye. "I also just happen to be busy for the next 4 hours or so, and I'm afraid I couldn't stop you from fighting..."

The Enforcer's grin was so feral, it almost made Gilgamesh rethink his options_. It would be quite bad to have this monster run around._

Hopefully, his student would make sure to put it down quickly.

"Are you sure you have made the right choice?" The voice coming from the back of the room seemed simply curious, but he knew Assassin better than most.

"If Shirou can't even defeat this pathetic dog, all that time I spent on him was wasted." The idea itself was so improbable, it was more likely that the Tohsaka heir would be run over by a car. The boy was his apprentice, and, like all of his things, was nothing less than magnificent at his trade. "Have you felt Saber again?"

"Yes, I have." the Servant's face twisted into a maddened one. "He chases the Grail with such abandon, he'd summon himself if he had too. That's just why he is so _amusing!_"

Gilgamesh couldn't help but sigh at the priest's antics. He was normally an intelligent, if sadistic, partner. That all went to hell every time the discussion went to the Saber of the last War, however. He had seen something in that boy and, whatever it was, it was driving him insane. The fact had once been interesting, but it quickly faded to annoyance.

"Then, I suppose I shall finally see what all this noise is about." With a flick of his wrist, he removed a small ball from his sleeve.

* * *

The basement of the Tohsaka mansion was bigger than Arturia had expected. It was also filled to the brim with all sorts of strange items that would drive any mysticism fan crazy. She was also quite sure that, had she not been a magus, she would have started running at this point.

As it was, all those things were interesting, potentially useful and a reminder of the power a magus could wield. If she remembered correctly, Kiritsugu had said that a family's power is judged by how old it is. Judging by how worn some of the objects looked, they had been there for decades _at least. _She was also quite positive she had seen the remains of a centuries old scroll.

All in all, she was feeling extremely self-conscious, with just a small pang of envy and a bit of hope. Really, she had spent years in that shed trying to reinforce a stupid iron bar, and here came Tohsaka Shirou who could do that stuff when he was eight.

Still, there was something good to be found in the situation. With Shirou's help, she could improve at last. Besides, what better place to learn than on a battlefield? And a battlefield Fuyuki would become, for the Grail War would make sure of it.

The idea still seemed half mad: summoning heroes of the past to help you fight for the Holy Grail of legends? If she hadn't seen what magecraft was capable of, she would have been sure Tohsaka was playing a mean prank.

The best proof, however, was the gigantic circle in the middle of the room. She had absolutely no clue what to make of it, but it was definitely meant for a big ritual.

"Well, I'm going to summon my Servant. It's 6 p.m, so I'm at the peak of my powers." Shirou said, stepping in the middle of the circle. He stopped a second before adding: "If you know what's good for you, don't interrupt. I also suggest stepping back; wouldn't want the Servant to be summoned on top of you."

Shirou's attempt at a joke brought a smile to her face. Still, she complied with his request. For a second, the boy seemed to hesitate, before beginning his chant.

"Bare and silver and iron. Stone for foundation and the Grand Duke of contracts. My great master Shveinorg for the ancestor.  
A wall for the descending winds. The four gates shall close and come out the crown. Let the three-forked road to the kingdom cycle."

The magical circle lit up like a neon, and Arturia could feel the prana it was sending through the air. She clenched her teeth, ignoring her instincts telling her to get the hell away from the extremely powerful ritual happening in front of her.

After more than ten lines, Arturia felt the sweat covering her body pouring like inside a sauna. A ten count aria spell was usually powerful enough to destroy a building. The way the spell was building up, any interruption could mean destruction on par with the Fuyuki Fire.

The reminder of the Fire caused her to shudder. The idea of attempting a ritual like this one was utterly ridiculous. Preposterous, even. She, who hadn't even succeeded in the most utterly basic magecraft available?

And yet, the spell hadn't ended yet. The Tohsaka magus still kept _chanting_! The circle even changed colours, creating a veritable typhoon of prana around. The only reason Arturia hadn't shouted yet was because she was too scared to. Scared of re-enacting the Fire Kiritsugu pulled her out of. Scared of seeing the power she herself had wished to have. It had covered the room, and she didn't want to imagine what it would feel like to be the summoner.

Finally, with a powerful release of prana, the ritual ended.

It was all Arturia could do to breathe in and look for the Servant.

Except there wasn't one. And an explosion like sound resonated from above.

""What?!""

* * *

The fall had been expected. The pain, not so much. That _bastard_ had made it look easy. Just one more reason to curse _him_ when she saw him again.

Thankfully, the room wasn't quite as destroyed as it had been when _he_'d been summoned. She wouldn't have cleaned the room, no matter how many Command Seals her Master used.

She heard the trampling from outside the room and placed herself on the couch, going through her memories again. At this moment, _she_ was gonna kick down the door...

Instead, the door opened easily, revealing a young Ri- _Wait, I definitely don't look like that! And is that Saber? What the?_

Her face didn't betray her confusion. She had seen, and wielded, the power of the Kaleidoscope before. There had been little doubt in her mind that this universe would be different from her own.

The idea that she had been summoned by Shirou alongside Saber made her snort. Truly, it would be just like him to summon _two _Servants that weren't even close to normal.

Still, he was looking at her worriedly as he spoke.

"Are you my Servant?"

"That ought to be _my _question, punk." She could see she'd gotten under Shirou's skin. Oh, this was going to be _rich. _He'd got used to her teasing after a decade or so, fighting back occasionally, but this guy seemed far more high-strung than the pushover Shirou usually was.

"What are you...anyway, yes I am your Master."

For a second, she was tempted to follow _his _actions, but she found that it wouldn't have the same impact. No, she had something far better.

"Oh? You sound quite confident for someone so inexperienced." His eyes widened and she hardly hid her smirk. "I've been through hell and came back, and you expect me to believe a child like you could be my Master?"

The magus' eyes were bulging comically by this point. She wished she had one of those camera things with her. Alaya had never been kind enough to put pictures alongside the memories she received in her room. Her laugh was as genunine as they come.

The boy was clearly trying to reinstate his own dignity, but she wouldn't let him off the hook that quickly.

"Besides, you seem to have quite a capable toy as it is. In fact, she is probably the perfect Servant for you." She eyed the girl she'd known as Saber and seen her redden. No, wait, the King of Knights would not have reacted like that. In fact, her whole behaviour was odd. The slight hostility she had been leaking should have been enough to make her step up, but she seemed almost afraid, as if she was...

"I'm not a Servant," the girl replied, revealing the sign on the back of her hand.

The whole thing threw her for a loop. Sure, the Kaleidoscope was quite infinite but the chances of this happening were so low, they were invisible. _Not that it ever stopped Shirou, me or even Zeltretch before. In fact, all magi that got somewhere __beat the odds at some point._

Their Master-Servant-Whatever conversation was rudely interrupted by something hitting the Bounded Field.

"We seem to be under attack. I suggest we go and see who exactly we are facing."

The Shirou look-alike nodded before whispering something in the other Master's ear. The blonde nodded and dashed for the basement. Whether she was going to summon her Servant or just hide, she didn't care.

"Let's go meet our guests, shall we?" Her Master was apparently back on his territory. His smirk rivalled _his _more than anything Shirou had ever had. In fact, he was more like _him _in general.  
"Of course. And call me Caster, will you?" If nothing else, she could be polite, occasionally.

"It will be my pleasure, Caster. I am Tohsaka Shirou."

Well, there went any strategies she might have planned. Time to improvise.

* * *

She hadn't initially approved of this trip. Revealing their selves to the enemies so quickly could prove dangerous in the long run, more so if their enemy knew how to use it to their advantage.

The moment she had felt the summoning, however, she had to agree this was an amazing plan of action. Taking down a Master right after they summoned their Servant, before they could even take a breath? A perfect plan in all sorts of ways. The attack on the house's Bounded Field had been nothing more than a way to draw them out quickly, and scare them just a little.

After all, the attack had been by a powerful Rune that, while not exactly Age of Magic at its best, still surpassed most magical abilities of the present magi. Any magus would know it had been a Servant's hand, and would either rush to meet them, or bunker down and give them the time to properly mount an assault. Either was useful in the long run.

The moment the enemy Servant jumped out one of the windows, she brought her guard up, expecting either Saber, Rider or Berserker. After all, who else would jump out a window and attack another unknown Servant directly?

As it turned out, Casters had to be added to the list. The spells had come her way quickly, 5 B rank spells of different elements. They were hidden inside jewels, but she saw them for what they were.

Had she been anyone else, she might have been worried about it. Instead, she decided to punch the spells with her rune-covered gauntlets. They were quite powerful indeed, and she could feel her hands hurting after hitting the Wind one. She was not deterred in the least by the pain, however. With a leap, she closed the distance between them. Strangely enough, Caster did not try to avoid her.

Realizing it was a trap, she tried to throw herself back, but couldn't move fast enough to avoid the other Servant's kick to the face.

It had not been more powerful than the spells in any way, but it had been quicker and unexpected. She had not had time to brace herself for the hit. A move that could have been lethal had she not been covered in Runes to take the damage

Still, she now knew that the other girl used some martial arts. And knowing, as it's said, is half the battle. She was able to block the follow up punches to some extent, even if she could not place the style she was facing. The myriad of kicks, punches and throws coming seemingly at random did not constitute much of a threat, even if she were to miss a block. The Caster simply did not possess the kind of power to meaningfully hurt her.

Also, it would hardly be the first time she had fought an unknown opponent. Compared to Scathach, this Caster was an amateur. It had taken her months to figure out what the hell that one had been throwing at her, while she doubted she would be surprised if the Servant faced her again. Already, she was catching up, if still on the defensive. All she needed was for her opponent to make one mistake, break her pace for half a second, overextend slightly or simply tire out and she would win.

The only threat she considered was the Noble Phantasm that the Servant was hiding from her, and even that she could neutralise if she saw it coming. Quite simply, this battle was going her way.

Or at least it had been before three flying swords nearly took her head off. The fact that he'd gone for the head was the only reason she wasn't either skewered or punched out; it allowed her to crouch under them while still blocking Caster's roundhouse kick.

Not that it didn't send her flying, but she didn't actually take much damage from it. Not for a Servant, at least. A human would likely have splattered on the ground.

Caster's backup was, if she assumed correctly, a Saber-class Servant. She tried to identify him, only to find herself face to face with him.

_He's fast! _She thought, reacting on pure instinct as she punched the sword he held. Said sword proved to be far more pathetic than she could have imagined, simply breaking from her punch, which did not stop after hitting it's target, preferring to use it's momentum to hit Saber's shoulder.

The enemy Servant proved to be quite better than his sword, taking the hit head-on with ease. It cracked his armour and made him jump back, but it hardly actually damaged his arm. He was actually capable of using a sword again with little difference in power from the first attack. If she hadn't felt her attack hit home, she'd have thought she had missed him.

Identical to his first assault, Saber dashed, slashing vertically with his sword. She replied in kind, only to find she was offered no resistance. It took her a millisecond to figure out he had let go of the sword, but it was already too late. She had overextended, and the boy had known she would and used it against her.

She had been utterly predictable.

* * *

He couldn't believe his plan actually worked. It had been so reliant on luck and so lacking in effort, he had expected it to fail. After all, to someone who could create swords out of thin air, sacrificing one was like a King giving a bronze coin. His plans had rarely worked when he had been alive, and his death served as proof of his lack of foresight.

Yet, he had managed to read the girl with ease, and was now inside her guard with unlimited ways of finishing her. On one hand, he could simply cut her down. He had plenty of sword that were perfect for this stuff, even a few specifically created to defeat spirits. He could simply rain death on her, stabbing with over 20 blades. If he wanted to, he could even take out his Noble Phantasm and make sure there was not a single piece of her left.

In spite of it all, his instincts were screaming that something was wrong. That moving any further would result in death. He had not felt such a danger in his whole life. His body almost froze up when he felt the strange sense of death around. He threw himself away, just in time to avoid a huge dark arrow.

He had died once. It was a requirement for becoming a Heroic Spirit, after all. But his death had been quick and painless. The aura that surrounded them threatened with a far more painful death. Despair, hate, suffering. Far, far worse than any other sensation, emptiness. An apathy that somehow mixed with an unending hate. A desire to hurt, to _rip apart._

Whatever he was facing clearly wasn't going to kill them; it was going to destroy them, break them until there was nothing left. And after it finished, it would move on to other people, who could not defend themselves.

And Knight Shirou of the Round Table would rather keel over than let that happen.

* * *

A/N: Well, I will try to keep the updating pace at a weekly basis, but might not manage. Otherwise, I'm open to criticism of any kind.

Also, I don't own anything Type-Moon related and never claimed to. That ought to work for a disclaimer.

Status UP!

**Caster**:

Master: Tohsaka Shirou.

True Name:?

Sex: Female

Alignment: Lawful Neutral.

Strength: C

Endurance: D

Agility: C

Magic: A

Luck: E

NP:?

**?:**

Master: Cu Chulainn

True Name:?

Sex: Female

Alignment: Chaotic Good.

Strength: A

Endurance: A

Agility: D

Magic: B

Luck: E

NP:?

**Saber:**

Master: Emiya Arturia.

True Name: Shirou.

Sex: Male.

Alignment: Neutral Good.

Strength: C

Endurance: C

Agility: B

Magic: B

Luck: D

NP:?


	3. Chapter 3

**A magus's regrets**

Breathe in. Breathe out.

_If I screw this up, I'm dead_ she thought, watching the blood drip from her hand onto the circle. She didn't have jewels fuelled with prana, so she had to do it with blood. She started chanting, creating her Circuit with more ardour than ever.

The circle lit up. For a second, Arturia debated whether this was a wise choice. The moment she summoned her Servant, she would be locked in a tournament that would only have one survivor. Her chances of being said survivor were lower than sea level and she was already a target of that Hercules person. All good reasons to get the hell out of the house and go home.

And yet...

She wouldn't do it. The image of Shirou came to mind, and her decision was made instantly.

"I announce." She wouldn't fail him. He had trusted her with this and was fighting in that exact moment against an enemy Servant. "Thy body shall be under my command, my fate shall be determined by thy sword." A hero that couldn't even hold his promises was no hero.

She felt her body try to push out the prana that it could not recognize. She was no stranger to pain, years of training had made it so. But this pain was building up, and not slowly either.

Thousands of needles seemed to pierce her skin, lava flowed through her veins, and her entire body was tensed so tightly, she couldn't even move. Just speaking caused pain to spike over her neck and lungs. Prana wildly flowed through her body, making it destroy itself from inside out. A pulse of prana had also released something else: 30 Circuits, never used before. She would have screamed at her ignorance if she had not had to finish the chant.

Every sensation seemed to increase in intensity. The smell of the basement filled her nostrils and she could read the title of every book on the bookshelf, no matter how small.

As she tried to speak the next verse, she used her incantation in her mind: _Burst, away! _Her new Circuits awoke wildly, the forceful open not doing her any good as far as pain went.

She regained her voice, and continued chanting, when she could no longer open her eyes, when her entire body tried to rip itself apart, even as she could no longer think at all...

"GUARDIAN OF THE SCALES!" With that last shout, she felt the prana being expended and fell forward. For a second, she thought she would hit the floor, but two arms caught her gently. She felt like she was swimming, like the air had suddenly decided she better not move. A confused voice drew her out from her half-conscious state.

"Are you injured, Master?" whoever he was, he clearly worried about her.

"I am fine, thank you for the help," she groaned, trying to push herself up. "However, we cannot stall right now, our ally is in danger."

She looked up and saw her Servant smirk as he helped her up. Her everything still hurt and her newly awakened Circuits cried constantly

"In an alliance before you even summoned me. I'm impressed, Master," there was genuine pride in his voice, but it didn't last long. "Still, am I to assume we came under attack from an enemy Servant?" Arturia nodded, grabbing an umbrella from a corner. Her Servant raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on her choice of weaponry.

"Follow me..." she stopped and looked at him. He was covered completely in armour save for his head and a regal looking blade was sheathed at his waist. "...Saber."

"Right away, Your Highness." 

* * *

He eyed the other magus carefully. Judging by the fact that he knew where he lived, this was no amateur. In fact, his clothes reminded him too much of what he'd seen of Enforcers. The idea that the representative of the Magus' Association would attack in broad daylight was mind boggling, but he did not have time to make guesses.

The other Master launched a small spell in his direction. The incantation had been short, so he doubted the spell was anything tough. A simple Gandr shot equalled it. Two charged shots followed the original, but the other Magus simply took them on with a magical barrier.

"What's with these one word spells? I've seen first generation magi throwing bigger stuff around!" the invader taunted, making Shirou clench his teeth. The bastard knew he had just summoned a Servant and his prana resources were down the drain.

"Unfortunately, I don't have any weaker ones that actually do damage," he replied, keeping as cool as possible. He had a few traps around, but their usefulness against this kind of opponent was limited. Not to mention the chance that his Servant would intervene if he got in trouble. Not that he doubted Caster, but she wasn't a direct combat type

"Oh, the little kid actually barks? This might just be interesting." The Enforcer pointed his hand at him and shouted a short aria. "_Follow the heat, exterminate the filth!"_

Shirou decided to play it safe and jumped to the side. The spell flew by his shoulder, missing him by a hair's width. He was prepared to throw a jewel when something slammed into his back. He fell to his knees, feeling a searing pain over his body.

"What kind of spell does that?" he wondered, pouring prana in his Crest to help heal faster. There were a few other spells in there that could be useful against his opponent, but using them was pointless if he couldn't make them count. His position did not allow him to properly aim and even then the opponent was far enough to be able to dodge.

"_Caster, are you alright?" _he thought, hoping the mental link worked properly. For a few seconds, he feared the short time passed between summoning and combat had not allowed the Servant to completely materialise. Then, Caster responded angrily:

"_Master, this War is far too complicated for my tastes as it is! No need to interrupt me in the middle of combat for something as stupid as that! We both know you'd feel it if I was injured!"_

Shirou did know as much, but he couldn't help but worry; he had sent Caster to fight face-to-face with an enemy Servant, without making any preparations beforehand. It went in opposition with all he had been taught about the Caster class.

Really, the amount of bad decisions he had made in the last hours was staggering:using magecraft in broad daylight, revealing he was a magus to Arturia, proposing an alliance with the Master of a Servant he knew would beat his own, leaving the girl in his workshop to keep her safe despite the fact that it would have been advantageous to fight there, responding to a challenge despite being low on prana and weakened, sending Caster to fight fair and square...

He might have found more had he not been kicked in the face by a bored Enforcer.

"Oy, stop lamenting and fight. I don't wanna kill you just yet, you seem pretty tough," the man complained, crossing his arms. The Tohsaka heir sighed and decided he would not have a better opportunity. The Enforcer had let his guard down at last.

"_Est ist Klein...Est ist grosse..." _he felt his Magic Circuits lighten up, his legs Reinforcing just slightly. It would have to be enough.

His jump was perfect. He held a gem in each hand and prepared to launch them when he was less than a meter away. The Enforcer's eyes widened for a second, before a gigantic grin split his face.

"That's more like it!" he shouted, bringing his hands up. Shirou would have expected him to create a shield, but his opponent really didn't pull that kind of thing. Instead, he started chanting at a speed he would have been hard pressed to keep up with. He didn't wish to find out what the spell would do to him, so he threw the two gems forward, while throwing himself away. One of the gems hit the other man directly while the other flew by, missing it's mark.

At the same moment, a flash burned the place he'd been a second eariler. But it didn't stop there. The flash kept on following him, burning down the garden in the process. No matter how he twisted or turned, the flash was right on his tail. He jumped over it, rolled to the side, even climbed a tree. His Reinforcement was already quite exhausting, trying to get away from that thing was emptying his already reduced prana reserves with an alarming speed. The pain didn't help, either.

Finally, he decided to sacrifice two more gems to create a shield. It was surprisingly good for the amount of concentration he'd had. The flash clashed against it with a surprising force, but it didn't stop. With a gasp, Shirou realised the spell was powered as long as the magus pumped prana into it. He wouldn't have wanted to try a battle of attrition with an Enforcer on his best day, and now was definitely not that day.

With an explosion, the two spells cancelled each other out. Apparently, the Enforcer did not plan to kill him with the attack. Still, he was injured, tired out and defenceless. He had two more normal jewels and _that _one. The idea of using his father's gem so early on disturbed him, but there was little he could do. Clenching his teeth, he grabbed the small jewel in his pocket.

"See, that's more like it!" the Enforcer looked bad. He had burns all over his body, a few cuts on his face and his hand seemed to limp at his side, useless. Despite all of his injuries, he was grinning like a madman. The fire spell had burned away his sleeves, revealing a small metallic structure stuck on his forearms: an arrow of some kind, held by a dozen tiny arms.

"I see. A Mystic Code that allows your spell to follow the target no matter wherever it goes," he grumbled, thinking of a way to get around that. Maybe he just had to disappear from sight? Or perhaps a certain range? Not to mention it would consume prana like mad...

"I knew you seemed like a smart one! Now, get back up and continue, I'm just getting warmed up," the other shouted, pointing his finger at him. Shirou was quite sure he didn't want to see the Enforcer get serious. He was about to attack when his opponent stopped suddenly. "What do ya mean, danger, Lancer? I didn't take you for a coward!" He stopped for a while, listening. "Ooh. I get it, I get it. I'll get there right away."

Shirou expected a lot of things. The magus helping him get up was not one of them. Still, he rolled with it for the moment. God knew only a miracle could have gotten him out of that mess.

"_Master, get your ass in here, or I swear to..." _Whatever Caster was going to say next was drowned out by a roar that he was quite sure would be heard all over the city. Gilgamesh would have his head for this.

"Seems like our Servants allied for now. Guess we'll save that fight for later, unfortunately. I'm Cu Chulainn, by the way." Shirou felt like he was missing something here. Maybe it was just a Master thing, but everyone in this war was clearly insane. He almost wished he didn't have to bother with all this and just get to the fighting, but he was quite sure he would be dead that way as well.

Any further movement was put on hold when both felt a prana release. As if they had practised it beforehand, the two jumped away. Dark slashes passed by, destroying a tree instantly. For Cu, the situation was sudden and completely unexpected. For Shirou, it was sudden, but most definitely expected.

"Good evening, Medusa-san," he said pleasantly, as if they had randomly met on the street. Medusa didn't seem to care either away. Her face was unreadable, but her stance was clearly tense. Whatever that meant, Shirou knew he would not be able to dodge again. He was barely on his feet as it was. He blamed Caster for it; she was draining his prana like no tomorrow for some reason.

Without responding, Medusa launched more strange slashes. As Shirou prepared to create a shield, another presence made itself known in the most ridiculous way possible: by jumping in front of the Tohsaka with a Reinforced umbrella. The boy was so shocked, he nearly had a heart attack.

Arturia didn't seem to give him any attention. The blades hit the umbrella, but could not destroy it. After not feeling any attacks for a while, the blonde launched herself at her opponent, closing the umbrella and holding it like a sword.

Medusa had turned to stone. She didn't seem capable of movement, her eyes wide and fearful. Shirou did not know how to take that. On the one hand, it was good to see she would not attack her friend; on the other, freezing in the middle of combat was an amateurish mistake. Pride and disappointment mixed in his head.

Meanwhile, Arturia had pointed her...weapon at Medusa's neck. The girl had apparently Altered the tip of the umbrella to make it sharp like a rapier. Once this was over with, he would make sure to congratulate her for the idea.

"Stop your Servant, Medusa. Now!" The shout managed to scare both Medusa and Shirou, but only elicited a wolf whistle from Chulain. All three turned to the Enforcer, who was leaning on a tree, his arms crossed and a one-eyed smirked on his face.

"Man, and here I thought there were no tough women in this day and age. Could this day get any better?" the Enforcer seemed like he had gotten everything he'd wished for for free.

The entire situation was too surreal for Shirou. Somehow, this wasn't what he'd expected of the Holy Grail War. Rather, it was completely off with anything he had ever learned of it. The connections between masters were uncommon, but not unusual, and the Servants sometimes could prove different from what their class would say about them; yet none of that could explain the fact that three schoolmates were fighting while their Servants were god-knows-where doing what was least expected of them. His Caster was the best example of the latter.

Really, what was that Servant thinking?

* * *

_If I survive this, I'm going to throttle them. _

Caster cursed as yet another tendril nearly touched her shoulder. The strange magic that the enemy was using was, quite simply, ridiculous: it was specifically designed to fight against spirits, apparently drained the prana of anything it touched and corrupted any living being in it's general surrounding.

It wouldn't have been nearly as bad if she hadn't known what she was facing. Really, the whole thing was disgustingly nostalgic. The same enemy, wielding the same magic, against her, who found herself falling back on the same Jeweled Sword she had used before.

She hoped she didn't get her Master killed by using the Sword, but she didn't have much of a choice. Really, who's idea had it been to summon her sister in her Dark form? Controlling her would be a pain, and she was more likely to become the Grail than get it.

She preferred to ignore the fact that she was fighting alongside some medieval version of Shirou (the idea of the guy with a hero complex in the Age of Heroes gave her chills) who also existed in parallel with her Master and Bazette McFraga, who she was quite sure was supposed to be a Master. Nothing would surprise her at this point. She almost expected that Einzbern brat to come out as Berserker and crush everything with the Third Magic. Now that would be an insane combination.

"Caster," Shirou-Saber called out to her from her left. Caster couldn't help but thank her mother for building this insane garden around the house, despite the insane amount of time and money wasted on it. She probably hadn't created it to save anyone's life, but it was a good after-effect. The amount of trees and plants made it easy to escape the stupid dark-thingys, even when distracted by someone. "Can you hold her off for a minute?"

To Caster, his plan was obvious: he was going to use his Noble Phantasm. If anyone asked her what that was, she wouldn't give much of an answer. Then again, if Arturia and Archer were now Masters, while her, Shirou, Sakura and Bazette were Servants...

"You're going to Excalibur her?" It was a giant leap of logic that somehow slipped out. Shirou's surprised face told her that she wasn't quite as wrong as she would have believed.

"Well, I never actually saw Excalibur, so Caliburn will have to do," he replied. Caster briefly wondered if she had done something wrong on her last mission to have Alaya punish her like this. Surely, she couldn't have been that bad.

"Well, I suppose that's our only chance right now." With a sigh, she grasped the Sword tightly and jumped to Sakura. The white haired girl watched with a sadistic smile, two big monsters standing on either side.

One rushed at her with a war cry, only to find himself in two pieces. The next one shared a similar fate. Sakura's anger was visible, and two Shadow tendrils branched off towards Caster.

Said Servant had not shrieked. She had most definitely not thrown herself into a bush, either. Really. Okay, maybe a little of both. But she'd done it with grace, that was for sure.

Thankfully, she did not have to dodge again: Bazette jumped out of nowhere and sent Sakura flying. Before the girl could even realise what was happening, she looked like she'd been through a meat grinder.

It was not enough.

Darkness enveloped the garden. Caster prayed that Kotomine, or Caren, or whoever oversaw this War had made sure to put up a Bounded Field around the house. It was turning into a war zone far too quickly. If this kept up, there would be a second Fuyuki Memorial Park.

She could barely see anything. She murmured an incantation and the Jeweled Sword lit up like a Christmas tree on steroids. It was a dangerous plan, but she needed to distract Dark Sakura just a little more. She didn't disappoint: a gigantic monster showed up in front of her. The Jeweled Sword in her hand gave her more than a bit of courage, however. If it came down to it, she had Ruby. It would be horribly embarrassing, dangerous and most likely full of collateral damage, but it would do the job.

Then, the darkness, along with the monster, disappeared as a powerful light blinded her. Clearly, this was Caliburn: the Sword in the Stone. The sword King Arthur had probably lost at some point before picking up Excalibur. The fact Shirou possessed this weapon told her all she needed to know: he was the reason Arturia Pendragon had ended up with Excalibur.

As she wrapped her mind around the idea, Lancer retreated, apparently injured by Sakura, who was nowhere to be seen.

Somehow, Saber had stolen Caliburn from King Arthur.

It sounded exactly like the stupid thing he'd have done before he met Sakura. No matter the universe, some things never changed...

* * *

A/N:

Status UP:

**Lancer:**

**True Name: **Bazette McFraga

**Saber:**

**NP: B**

**Noble Phantasm: **Caliburn (The Sword in the Stone). This sword was created by Merlin and used in the choosing of Britain's king. Due to not being the one Chosen, Shirou cannot properly use this sword.

**Caster:**

**NP: C**

**Noble Phantasm: 1.**Jeweled Sword. A mystic code initially created by Zeltrech of the Kaleidoscope. This version is only a replica created by Caster, which is about on par with Shirou's replicas. It doesn't strain the muscles as much, but it's not quite as potent due to lacking the right materials. It has the ability to create mini-holes in space/time and use prana from different dimensions.

**NP: A(C+)**

**2**.Kaleidostick Ruby. Another one of Zeltrech's toys, Ruby allows the user to transform into a different version of themselves as the situation requires. Due to the indisposition between the two, Caster can only change into her magical girl persona.


	4. Chapter 4

**The calm in-between storms**

An arrow passed by his head. Another hit the ground at his feet, sucking the prana in the air around him. A third was barely parried by two Projected swords.

Saber took a deep breath and let several more sword blueprints load in his mind. Caster was going to support him, but she sure took her time. The Servant they were fighting was not as much powerful as tireless. Her powers seemed to lie in prana absorption, which was not only effective at keeping her reserves up, but also good at dragging others' down.

Instead of an arrow, a tendril launched itself at him. Saber ran through two blueprints, but realised they were far too weak to slow the tendril down. He only had three swords that could do the job, but any would be suicide with his Master in such a bad condition. His only remaining choice was the sword laying at his waist.

For the briefest of seconds, he hesitated. The face of his king came to mind and he couldn't find it in himself to draw her sword. He would rather die than use it, would rather suffer whatever the Servant intended to do to him... But he couldn't let his Master go through the same thing. His Master, who still fought against the enemy as he sat there and prepared for their death.

The tendril was so close, he could feel the way it corrupted the air. In less than a second, it would touch him, absorbing him in his entirety.

He did not need a second. The moment Caliburn came out of its sheath, the tendril retreated, far too slowly to dodge his slash. The garden was suddenly enveloped by a low light. Shirou kept pushing prana into the sword, hoping he could Break it.

Broken Phantasms were his strongest card, and Breaking Caliburn was something he had never done before. Heck, he hadn't wielded Caliburn before. It had always been by his king's side, as it was supposed to be.

_Until you took it._

Pushing back his guilt, he rushed towards the girl who had been trying to kill him. Apparently, she had been distracted by the other Servant, about who he had to admit he'd forgotten in the midst of trying to survive. Still, it presented him an opportunity: he could kill both with a Broken Caliburn. Two Servants in one shot. One third of the comeptition.

The temptation was powerful, too powerful in fact. Shirou was sure his Luck rank was too low for such a chance to appear. As such, he decided to play it safe and attack the more dangerous enemy.

The Servant had seen him coming, but her arrows and tendrils were no match for a sword like Caliburn. Even in its present state, the sword could wreck a lot of magic. Saber himself lent his body to the sword, mimicking his king's insanely quick reflexes.

As he almost reached the enemy, he realised two things: first, he couldn't hope to even activate, let alone Break Caliburn in his condition, and second, the girl had a look of relief on her face.

The second observation made him change his decision. Instead of rushing in, he jumped back and threw Caliburn forward. The girl did not even attempt to defend, but black tendrils tried to defend her regardless. They were passed through like butter, but even butter could slow a sword in high quantities. The girl was slashed, but not impaled.

Still, she let out a shriek that Saber would rather not have described. More interestingly, her tight, black dress transformed in clothing that reminded him of what farmers wore long before his time. Normal clothes. Not something a monster would wear. Even more surprisingly, her hair turned black.

The change lasted for only a few seconds, after which the Servant jumped away and de-materialised. Whether it was her Master's order or her own decision, it was outside Shirou's knowledge. Still, judging by her look, she wouldn't have left like that.

He had somehow also lost sight of the other Servant, but he didn't doubt she had had the same idea as the girl. It was most likely a tactical retreat due to the injuries she had received. All in all, the battle could be considered their win.

"Hey, Saber," Caster's voice took him back to the present. Turning around, he noticed her looking at him expectantly. "What are you waiting for? Our Masters were in combat, remember?"

Saber had not forgotten, but he couldn't help but admit he had not thought much of it. As a result of his Master's resemblance to his king, he had believed her capable of defeating the enemy Master with ease. Now that he thought about it, his expectations were based on a simple personality comparison. Her skills, on the other hand, he had no idea about.

With a nod, he dashed in his Master's direction. The distance was actually quite small, but the destroyed battlefield-once a beautiful garden-proved to be quite an obstacle.

Shortly, his Master's visage appeared in his field of vision. 

* * *

Arturia kept her sight on her friend. Medusa was a dangerous opponent normally. She might not have usually showed it, but she could kick Arturia's butt gloriously. The fact that the purple haired girl did not want to fight her was a blessing, if their initial meeting was anything to go by.

Silently, her friend relaxed, a presence manifesting beside her. Quite sure that it was a Servant, Arturia relaxed a bit.

"I did not expect to meet you today, Medusa-san," Arturia said, trying to sound friendly. The atmosphere was getting tenser by the second, and she did not like it. No matter how much she tried to hide it, her body was shaking. The circuits that had flared up for the first time were wrecking her body. Alas, she could not stop them, lest she fell to the ground unconscious. The pain kept her awake, wary.

"Arturia?" Medusa seemed be in the middle of a panic attack. Then again, the Emiya girl would have probably done the same outside of combat. Finding out her friend was a magus was a...shocking experience to say the least.

"May I suggest a withdrawal? None of us are in any shape to fight further right now, and if we fight any further we will become easy pickings for the other Masters," Shirou's voice rang out. Arturia nearly jumped out of her skin. The surprise actually made her drop her improvised weapon.

For a second, she expected an attack from the Master in front of her. Medusa, however, seemed to agree with Shirou. With a nod in her direction, the girl turned around and vanished.

"I suppose there isn't much left to do now," the voice of the fourth Master, who's name she didn't know, added with a resigned shrug. "Oi, Lancer, let's get our asses out of here before the priest asks us to cover this stuff up!"

Lancer's Master grinned and ran towards the street. He then proceeded to jump over the fence in the most overdramatic way possible.

The entire situation was far too much. The day had went extremely strangely, one battle after another, and Arturia decided it was time to close her Circuits. Taking a deep breath, she tried to remember the sensation of turning them on. A feeling as if she was falling pulled at her, and she could feel the Circuits' phantom pain disappear.

"Master!" Saber's voice. She turned to him, only to trip over her own feet. Without Reinforcement, walking was far harder. Before she could taste the dust, Saber caught her. She tried to look up at him, but could not find the strength to. Her eyes closed and she felt her consciousness leave her.

Caster barely held in her laugh. Saber's panicked expression as he tried to hold on to his unconscious Master was the stuff of legends. The poor Servant nearly dropped her! She could barely wait to meet EMIYA again. She would have so much blackmail...

"She's alright, you know? A bit exhausted, no doubt because of the amount of magecraft she used, but uninjured," Shirou-Tohsaka, not Saber, and damn it she needed to find a way to call them differently in her head- said, trying to comfort the distraught Servant. Said Servant was having none of it, checking for injuries. Caster could no longer hold in her laugh when Saber tried to remove the girl's shirt, especially seeing her Master's blushing face.

Taking pity on poor Arturia, Caster decided this needed to stop. With one weak slap to the top of the head, she stopped Saber's ministrations.

"You can ravage your Master in her sleep all you want, but please remove your armour and put her on a bed first, please," she told Saber with her best teasing smile. The Servant promptly became as red as the other Shirou in the clearing. Apparently, that didn't change across dimensions. Well then, she could push a bit further... "Although, personally I recommend trying it with awake, consenting girls, too. Who knows, you might just enjoy it." Her wink apparently sent Saber's mind away. For a few seconds he sat there, red as a tomato and staring blankly at her.

_3,2,1... _Caster counted down in her head. Just as she reached zero, Saber lifted his arms up and started stuttering several denials. Caster took the opportunity to take Arturia in her arms. One quick Analysis showed she had jump-started her Circuits. Casting the Summoning, no doubt. That spell was quite intense if she remembered right.

Lifting the girl bridal style, she took a look at the young girl she had once known as Saber. She looked similar, but there was no doubt a change. After all, the difference between England in the 5th century and Japan in the 20th was immense. She actually looked like an 18 year old this time, if a bit short. Her muscles were nowhere near as well formed as Saber's had been and she actually had a bit of fat in her, as well.

Rin had not had much of a friendship with the original Saber. They had met, gotten along quite well, but ultimately the girl had become her enemy. Still, Shirou had considered her a friend, so she had no choice but to follow.

Now, if only she could remove the image of Arturia almost killing her Archer from her head, it would be perfect.

Looking up, she saw that the two Shirous had started a sort of staring contest. Now, Caster had somewhat grown used to the same thing happening back in her own War, but EMIYA and Shirou at least looked different. These two were only different in that Saber was older and bigger than Tohsaka.

Referring to her Master as Tohsaka did bring about some images in her head though. Shirou and her young self? That would have been a crazy pair.

Ignoring the slight reddening of her cheeks, she let out a small cough. The two Shirous turned to her, and she directed her best unamused expression at them. They got the point quite clearly, if the way they hurried back to the house was any indication.

It was a short walk, but she had to admit she was impressed: this version of the insane garden looked far better than her own. The idea that Shirou or, God forbid, Kotomine had tended to her mother's garden was...she couldn't actually put her hand on any particular feeling. The wrongness was considerable, but imagining either or both watering plants seemed like something out of a drama. The boy, an orphan magician, and his guardian, a fake evil priest. Still, she could see several flowers and trees that had either withered away or been destroyed by insects in her timeline, now grown and beautiful.

Thankfully, not much had actually been ruined by their fight—which that priest better cover up- but it had done some damage regardless.

The house had not changed much. Small things, like objects' places and the colours of some curtains, had likely been the result of different personal whims she had had. Here, everything was nearly the same as at the time her father died. Shirou seemed like the type of person to care about the things his father left him. She had not been nearly as disciplined.

_This is no time for fond recollection! _She said to herself, laying Arturia on her parents' bed. Looking in the living room, she noticed her Master had thrown himself on a chair, obviously trying to rest. Caster didn't fault him; that had been a hell of a battle. Just after Summoning too.

Saber was, perhaps, the most out of place. He clearly wasn't all that tired and he obviously had had no time to think before the battle. He had no idea where he was, why he was there or what his Master would wish him to do. Judging by the fact that he was not throwing swords around or giving them wary looks, he had probably accepted their alliance as fact.

Ignoring that, which wasn't exactly easy, they still were at an obvious disadvantage. The other Masters now knew where their base was and, if they were anything like the other ones, they were going to come for them. She did not like her chances against the monsters that had no doubt been summoned. Her chances against Herakles were only marginally worse than against Medea. She could probably handle Assassin if she kept him in sight.

Her Master got up and went to the kitchen. A weird move for anyone else, but she knew Shirou was at peace when cooking.

She needed to stop overthinking things. Right now, her objectives had to be protecting their current location, scouting out the enemies, finding the Holy Grail and preparing for Zouken, or whoever he was in this timeline.

So she got to work. 5 small familiars appeared in her hands and she scattered them to the Matou household, Ryuudo temple, High school, Church and the forest where Einzbern should be located. Even if they were destroyed, it was important to make sure their enemies had not changed locations. Unlike Archer, she had no qualms with using her knowledge of the future.

The next step was preparing the household for another assault. Strengthening the Bounded Field around the house, putting up some traps for anyone stupid enough to charge inside, maybe a familiar of two if she had the time. That would have taken a while back when she was alive, but as Caster she had Territory Creation. Rank B, too. Enough to create a "workshop", according to the Holy Grail. That would be fun.

Once she would get past that... She wasn't sure what to do. She supposed she could test her Noble Phantasms, see if Ruby was still as annoying in death. Or she could have a talk with her new allies, find out what else had changed across timelines; whether Sakura, Ayako, Kuzuki or Kotomine had also exchanged places with someone else.

_If something similar happens to the Sakura of this timeline as to my sister..._Rin's face darkened, _I'll find the one who did it and make him suffer until he resembles Angra Mainyu!_

* * *

The Matou household was quiet. To Medusa, that was a very good thing. Being seen by her brother would have been dangerous, since the boy didn't know about the Holy Grail War. She didn't want to give her sibling any more reasons to be envious.

If Shinji found out, the situation would get even worse than it already was. She doubted she could hold Rider as a secret for long, but the moment her brother would find out, Medusa would have to leave the house to prevent her Servant from killing the boy.

As she reached the basement door, she found herself hesitating to open the door. Strange. That had never happened before. Closing her eyes, Medusa let all emotion go. Like what had to be a decade ago, she emptied her mind and felt her entire being flow down.

"_If you need help, I'll be right here."_

An electrical shock would have caused far less damage. Those words, spoken so candidly, had somehow hit her heart in a way uncle Kariya's had not managed to. It was, perhaps, the simplicity of it all: she was a friend, something was bothering her, so she would help. Not family. No knowledge of her being a magus, let alone her grandfather's methods. Nothing to gain from helping her. All of it felt so simple, so pure.

"Are you alright, Master?" Rider said with a worry that was not in her voice before. Medusa nearly jumped up at her Servant's sudden concern.

Sakura, a monster that people considered to contain All The World's Evil. Said to specialise in killing humans, at some point considered the same as Angra Mainyu. And here she was, showing actual concern to her. In a way, it made Medusa feel worse rather than better. Even ancient monsters pitied her now?

"Just something I noticed. Nothing to worry about," she replied, hoping that she had regained her cool air. Judging by Sakura's unimpressed stare, she hadn't.

"Master, I know what the legends say about me and I may not have been the most courteous after the summoning, mostly because of the place-even Angra Mainyu would recoil at the sight of a pit of man-eating worms-, but that does not make me devoid of emotion." Sakura had a beginning of a smile on her face. In a way, Medusa felt almost sorry for the Servant. Who knew what the girl had suffered to become the monster in front of her?

As Sakura took Medusa in her arms, a vague sense of companionship formed between the two. Two misunderstood monsters in a basement filled with worms, watched by a century old vampire-magus. Truly, the Grail knew what it was doing.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the loooong wait, but it isn't gonna get any shorter. I don't write as much as I would like and this story keeps getting awkward at the worst possible moments. I blame Rin. Next chapter, whenever I get around to it, will probably be longer.

Status UP:

**Rider:**

**Master: **Medusa Matou

**True name:** Sakura

**Sex: **Female

**Alignment:** Chaotic Evil

**Strength: **D

**Endurance: **B

**Agility: **C

**Magic: **A+

**Luck: **E-

**NP:?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Plots and Alliances in the night**

The Ryuudou Temple was quiet. If anyone asked, Medea would have said she enjoyed the silence. It was a place where the noise of the city did not reach. A place ideal for meditation and relaxation.

Unfortunately, being left alone with her thoughts was not what the girl needed. She couldn't stand the loneliness, the isolation. Even the sound of the wind through the leaves did not help soothe her nerves.

Something was happening. She had no idea what, couldn't find the problem no matter how she looked into it. Factually speaking, nothing had changed. There was no big change, no sudden revelation, just an unstoppable sense of wrongness. She had ignored it at first; surely someone else would have noticed something bad happening.

And yet, as the week had gone by, the feeling had gotten worse, to the point she had almost exploded when she had attempted to tease Shirou. There was something about the whole town, an aura that had covered Fuyuki like a blanket. The monks could sense it as well, but they ignored it. According to the temple's tradition, this was a usual occurrence. Every few decades something like this would happen, bringing some disasters with it and then going away as if nothing happened. The last time, it had been the Fuyuki Fire, a huge explosion under a hotel and some serial children killings. The one before that was not as well documented, 70 years before, but it had been almost as bad.

Now, it was coming again, after only a decade. Medea shuddered as she reached the road. Somehow, she could feel a headache coming on. She hoped the school wouldn't be the target this time.

"Oh my, is our dear Medea-san sneaking out?" Kojiro's voice echoed through the courtyard. The girl jumped as she was pulled out of her reverie. The blue haired man was smirking at her from the entrance. He was lazily leaning on the gate, his hands crossed over his chest.

"I assure you, I was merely taking a walk to clear my head," she replied as gracefully as possible. Somehow, this seemed to amuse him even more. He was clearly about to give a retort when he suddenly turned around, looking down the stairs.

Curious, Medea came up next to him. She looked down the stairs only to gasp as she took in the silhouette that was walking up to the temple.

A tall, pale man, dressed in some kind of long skirt and covered in blood. He looked up and noticed them, starting a staring contest of sorts. For a few minutes, none moved. Then, with a twitch, he fell to the ground.

Medea nearly let out a shriek unlike any other, falling on her butt. She had seen his eyes, the resignation, the feeling of being already dead. But she had also felt a brief, unmistakeable threat. Even if only for a second, he had been prepared to kill them. In a way, she was thankful that he collapsed.

Unlike her, Kojiro had wasted no time in going down to the man and picking him up. The easiness with which he had picked up the bleeding man and carried him to the gate was astonishing. He didn't seem panicked in the least. With a tilt of his head, he told her to go open the door. Holding in her questions, she complied with his requests.

Her sensei moved silently, yet quickly, through the corridors leading up to his room. A simple room for a man like Kojiro, only a few tatami, but expressive all the same. Aside from the futon and a pretty big bookcase, he had a classical painting on the wall and a few small flowers.

In an abstract manner, the bleeding man fit quite well: a bleeding statue, dangerous yet graceful. Medea wasn't sure why she was admiring the guy who had wanted to kill her, but she supposed it was just the shock.

"Medea, stop dreaming and get some bandages in here," Kojiro-sensei said, his voice cold yet calming. She nodded and quietly left for her room. She had no intention of waking up the whole temple by searching all over the place. Her attempts at cooking had led her to keep an emergency kit in her room at all times. There was also one in the kitchen, but that was too far away and might attract suspicion. Why she cared about not attracting suspicion, she had no clue, but something told her not to ask.

When she returned, she found the man awake and talking with Kojiro. For a second she thought about letting them finish their conversation, yet decided against it. Eavesdropping was beneath her after all.

"I'm back, Kojiro-sensei," she whispered, sliding the door as slowly as possible. Kojiro responded with a grateful smile, taking the roll of bandage carefully. The hurt man, whose name she still didn't dare ask, pushed up his sleeve to reveal an ugly cut, extending from his palm to his elbow. Medea was so pale, she was quite sure she wouldn't have recognized herself in that moment. That cut was weird in more ways than one could count. First of all, it was too clean; no blade cut that cleanly, not even a surgical knife. Secondly, it was bleeding far too much; the cut did not hit any veins or arteries, the bleeding should have stopped by then. Last, but not least, the cut was healing itself before her very eyes; she had seen people who healed quickly before-she was friends with both Shirou and Arturia for goodness' sake!-but this wound was literally closing itself.

She shivered. They were dealing with something unnatural here. She hurriedly glanced at her sensei, who just frowned and started rolling out the bandage. _Why are you acting like he skinned his knee or something?! _Medea thought, clutching her head. This was getting too weird for her. Kojiro calmly proceeded to break the bandage by hand. He put it down before taking a bottle of disinfectant and a small piece of cotton and washing the wound. The other man didn't even flinch.

"Thank you," the man said, quite suddenly. His voice was low, but the deep tone could be felt regardless. The man clearly wasn't used to offering gratitude. In fact, he probably wasn't used to talking in general.

"No problem. I'm sure you would do the same," Kojiro said, something unidentifiable in his tone. There was clearly some subtext to that line, but Medea couldn't figure it out. "Whatever happened, anyway?" Kojiro added curiously.

"The Holy Grail War..."

* * *

"Who goes there?"

Hercules turned to face the approaching footsteps. He frowned at the figure. He had never met this brat before. His blue hair clearly given him away, however: a Makiri.

"Slow down big guy, I'm just a friend," the sleazy voice made the Einzbern feel sick. If it weren't for his Servant telling him to calm down, he would have twisted the boy's neck. He might have done it anyway, but his next words stopped him. "Besides, wouldn't you want to know more about Emiya? I happen to know her quite well."

Hercules growled. Much as he hated the girl, he pitied her for having to put up with this worm's presence. Archer's hand grasped his arm tightly, no doubt to stop him from doing something stupid. That girl could annoy him sometimes, but he had to admit she was right. This punk could be his next clue on the strange events surrounding his family.

"Really? And you expect me to believe you're gonna give me all the info and expect nothing in return," he asked, glaring at the blue-haired boy. Said boy grimaced, but didn't back down. He did have some guts after all.

"Duh, I'm a magus through and through. In fact, I'm giving you this info because this way you get your revenge, and I get Saber, the best Servant. Isn't it a perfect deal?" Makiri said, the worst smile ever on his face. Hercules barely managed to resist making the boy into fine paste. In fact, Archer was the only thing stopping him.

"Master, take a deep breath and remember that we need this information. You can kill him, but only after he tells us everything." The white haired girl that appeared next to him sounded far more mature than she looked. Then again, Iliasviel von Einzbern had been at her strongest in her teens, at least according to Grandfather. Her ability to use the 3rd Magic had peaked later, but by then she had lost her ability to fight. He didn't really understand how that worked but he didn't care much. She was cool. And cute, not that he'd ever mention that one.

"I see. So what exactly can you tell me about this 'Arturia' girl?" he asked with a scoff. The Makiri smirked arrogantly, relaxing his posture.

"She is a swordsman, kind of. Judging by what little I've seen of her workshop, she uses Reinforcement and Projection. Her house is defended by a bounded field specialized in reading intentions, sort of an alarm. She is well acquainted with the Tohsaka heir, with whom she is allied in this war." All but the last were vague answers. The first was something he already knew. The magecraft she used was a conjuncture at best. The tiny amount of detail on her bounded field was not nearly enough and the fact that she was allied with Tohsaka helped far too little. Clearly, the boy knew more than he was saying. But for what purpose?

"That's not nearly enough." Hercules crossed his arms over his chest. "Did you come all this way to give me pathetic tidbits I already know? Because I can and will kill you if wasted this much of my time."

The Makiri winced, took a step back and gulped. Still, he wasn't running away or begging for mercy, so there was still hope. The boy smiled, as if preparing a trump card.

"I also have info on her Servant...and info on her father," The Makiri added the last part casually, but the look he sent to the Einzbern homonculus was anything but. Hercules felt his breath leave him. If this boy could tell him the truth, he had hit a gold mine. He would finally know why he had been abandoned, why the girl had been chosen...

_No, I can't get my hopes up!_ He thought, calming his thoughts down. Still, he knew the boy had taken this point. He was going to request something good. Hercules would sign it regardless. This was more important than anything else.

"In exchange for that, however, I want you to do me a favour," Makiri said, predictably. Hercules bit his lip and nodded. "After you defeat their Servants and take Arturia, I want you to leave the Tohsaka heir to me. Kill his stupid Servant, but leave him to me. If you can keep Saber alive, even better."

Hercules eyed the boy warily, trying to understand his plan. He felt no prana coming from the boy and Archer would have told him had there been a Servant in the area, so he was not a Master. Possibly not even a magus. Truly, the Makiri had fallen far if they were sending a child with no magecraft to fight for the Holy Grail. Still, what could he need Saber for?

"I see, and what stops me from extracting that info from your unconscious body?" He said, trying to delve into the mind of this new threat.

"You see, I'm not actually here. This is just a familiar." The boy- _Might not be a boy, though-_ replied. Archer seemed surprised, her eyes wide. Hercules wondered whether she had felt that fact. He had to give it to the boy, he had all his bases covered.

"Fine. Tell me what you know."

* * *

_Three children, dressed in tunics signifying their being squires to nobles, stood before the Sword in the Stone. Caliburn, they called it. The Sword of Victory. The Sword of the King. Merlin, the court magus, had said only the one worthy of being king could pull it out._

_The three knew perfectly well how false it was: only one person could pull out the Sword, no matter their worth._

_That person was one of the three. It was not Kay, son of a brave knight, a brave squire in his own right, with a big heart and naïve outlook; Nor was it Shirou, of common-birth but raised my magi, who wanted to help people more than anything. It was _, of the House of Pendragon, true heir to the throne of Camelot, who cast away all emotions to become the perfect king._

_The other two could do naught but swear they will assist their once comrade, now king. And so, Kay and Shirou became the first Knights of the Round Table._

_As time would go on, more would join them: Lancelot, the best swordsman in all the land; Gawain, loyal and invincible; Galahad, whose shield could stop armies in their steps; and many others, some of which time had forgotten._

_The Knights led the Britons to victory again and again, regaining their long lost territories and gaining some new ones. They became legends, heroes to have their tales immortalised._

_And yet, it was not to last..._

Arturia got up with start. Calming her breath, she checked her surroundings: a big, western-style room. She tried to stand up from the bed, only to find her legs not really agreeing with her. She was about to try again, only to feel a hand on her shoulder.

"You should be resting, Master. Don't force yourself," Saber said carefully, worry hidden behind a calm tone. Arturia looked at him in surprise for a second. He looked exactly like the boy from her dream just now. Except, he had apparently changed from his armour at one point, now being dressed in a sort of tracksuit that was a bit too small on him. Indeed, were it not for his tallness, she would have thought him Shirou.

"I'm surprised she is up at all, really. I expected her to sleep for days," Caster added after appearing in the corner in the room. She walked up to Arturia and placed a hand on her chest. The girl didn't know what was happening, so she let the far more experienced magus do as she liked.

"Has she fried her Circuits?" Arturia was surprised by Saber's knowledge. Indeed, she herself knew little about what could have happened, having only discovered Circuits were a thing you had, not that you made before every battle, a short while ago. Then again, Saber had probably dealt with magi before, one way or another.

"Yes, to a certain degree, but it's nothing irreversible," she replied, waving her free hand around. Then, she added, "It's going to hurt like hell though, and that is without activating them. I wouldn't want to be you in that situation."

Arturia understood what the magus was saying, but still couldn't help but try to fire up a Circuit. One second later, it felt as if someone was pouring sulphuric acid through her veins and down her spine. Thankfully, a pulse went through her body, stopping the flow of prana.

"You know, I thought you were just like Shirou, but I was wrong; you are far worse." Caster's unimpressed voice echoed in Arturia's ears, but she cared too little about the comment. The fact that the pain was gone filled her with relief as she collapsed back on her back.

Caster had, at some point, taken her hand off her chest and was now looking through a pouch she had attacked at her belt. She pulled out a small red rock and gave it to Arturia. The girl had no idea what it was, but Caster motioned to swallow it and she did so. The feeling of horrible pain returned, only far more controlled and she could actually trace the prana as it flowed through her frayed Circuits.

"I know it hurts, but you have to get used to having prana flowing through them again. Knowing you, you will barely feel it by tomorrow, and in a couple of days you will be out there, fraying them all over again." Caster's attempt at humour worked as Arturia found herself smiling. "For now, get back to sleep. We have some long weeks ahead of us."

Arturia nodded and was about to doze off.

"Wait," Shirou said from the doorway. Arturia was starting to wonder if she had lost all her senses, because he was the third person to surprise her today. "Before you nod off, I would like to make sure our alliance still stands."

A tense silence enveloped the room. The two Servants who had been discussing amicably a second ago were staring at each other, prepared to jump at the first order. She could see the jewels in Caster's hand and Saber's prana was filling up the room. They weren't friends, she understood. Allies. A term she never thought she would use outside History class.

"Of course," she replied, perhaps more easily than she should have. "The fact that Caster is treating me and Saber has not yet tried to make you a head shorter should have alerted you to that fact."

Just like that, all the tension was gone like the wind. Caster was hiding her chuckle with her hand, Saber smiled and Shirou sighed with something between relief and exasperation.

Seeing the situation resolved, Arturia closed her eyes and relaxed. Already, the pain was starting to become normal.

* * *

"Welcome back, Enforcer. Have you had fun," Gilgamesh asked as Cu entered the church. Cu smiled at him as if his birthday had come early. The positively feral smile, combined with his burned up face and clothes, made him look like a savage. In Gilgamesh's opinion, it fit him like a glove.

"Hell yea', I started the War in real style!" Cu laughed, clearly satisfied to get his blood burning already. He seemed to have hopes of continuing today's battle with others, even more explosive and devastating.

Gilgamesh had other plans. With one move of his hand, he brought out a dagger and cut Cu's arm off at the elbow. Cu did not see it coming, but still reacted well, jumping away and launching some sort of spear of wind at his face. Such an attack would easily kill most people. The priest was not most people: he lifted up his hand and whispered an activation code. One of the rings on his fingers started glowing and the spear dissipated.

In the next second, he was in front of the Enforcer and sent a punch in his stomach. He collapsed, bleeding heavily. Gilgamesh smiled and took a glance at Cu's Servant. He was strong, but he had no desire to battle it out with a Servant.

As expected, it wasn't necessary: Assassin had kept her in place with his Black Keys. Lancer was by no means weak, but even she could not match Kotomine's powerful Keys. If even one were to hit, it would be over even for one of the strongest Servants. Kotomine himself could only take two before he disappeared, but the first would already put him in a position where even a magus could take him out.

Lancer dodged as well as she could in a place like a church, where she had nothing to hide behind and little space for manoeuvres. Gilgamesh was already proud of his idea of taking the Enforcer's Servant. It would require a few Command Seals, but as coordinator of the Holy Grail War, he had plenty of those.

Having grown tired of watching Lancer jump around breaking the church's benches, he lifted Cu's arm.

"Lancer, I order you never to attack me," he shouted, his voice as cold as he could make it. "Lancer, I order you to my become my Servant."

Lancer's eyes widened. The two Command Seals in quick succession had left her unable to resist, despite her Magic Resistence. _Exactly as planned._

Even Kotomine, from where he stood next to the entrance to the altar, couldn't resist a smile. They had now entered the War.

* * *

Status UP:

**Assassin:**

**True Name: **?

**Master: **?

**Sex: **Male

**Alignment: **True Neutral

**Strength: **C(B+)

**Endurance: **C-(B)

**Agility:** B(A)

**Magic: **B

**Luck: **C

**NP: **?

**4th War Assassin:**

**True Name: **Kotomine Kirei

**Master: **Gilgamesh

**Sex: **Male

**Alignment: **Neutral Evil

**Strength: **A

**Endurance: **A

**Agility: **A+

**Magic:** C

**Luck: **B

**Np: **B(A++)

**Noble Phantasm: Original Black Keys (B rank, A++ against unnatural beings): **Weapons used nowadays by Excutors of the Church, they are very hard to use in melee and work best as projectile weapons. They are normally very powerful against unnatural beings, including Servants, but Kotomine's shine even further due to their long history giving them an extreme advantage when facing said beasts. It is possible that these are the very first Black Keys ever created.

* * *

A/N: It's been far too long, hasn't it? I've been getting my writing groove back on, but whether it's gonna last is anyone's guess. If you liked, tell me why, if you didn't, also tell me why. See you next time, whenever that will be!


	6. Chapter 6

**Counter-Coalition **

Medusa took a deep breath as she watched the school entrance slowly get more crowded as time went on. She had arrived ridiculously early today so that she might catch sight of Shirou and Arturia, and she wasn't going to give up until she either saw them or was absolutely convinced they would not attend school.

Her plan thus far was in its infancy stage: make contact with the Tohsaka-Emiya alliance and convince them to make a non-aggression pact while at school. Anything else was cloudy, ideas of joining the alliance far from her plans. Her grandfather would not allow her to do such a thing and she herself still harboured some...doubts about Tohsaka's integrity. He was a magus after all, surely he had some meticulous plan to betray Arturia at the last moment.

Rider agreed with her statement quite heartily, although she clearly failed to understand why the Emiya girl was of any importance. Trying to explain their relationship was hard enough when the other person was not a priestess of destruction whose general argument in favour of doing something evil was "why not?". Still, she had agreed that they were better off waiting for the pact between Saber and Caster to break as would be normal. In the end, only one could win the Holy Grail and the idea of Caster waiting that long to make a move was absurd; unless she had some unimaginably powerful Noble Phantasm, Saber was probably going to turn her into shreds.

Briefly tearing her eyes from the entrance, she threw a few glances at the classroom. It had filled up while she was waiting for the two, but everyone stood as far from her as possible. It was good to see that her reputation was as powerful as always, and she allowed herself a smirk. She could hear a chuckle from her Servant, but suddenly she became alert.

"_Master, look!" _her Servant mentally shouted, causing Medusa to turn around. However, it was not Shirou or Arturia that Rider was pointing at.

"That's just Medea, the Student Council President," she replied, confused by her Servant's scared reaction. Rider seemed confused by the term, so Medusa gave a brief explanation. "She is the one who handles the budgets of the clubs, discipline and is also our voice to the teachers."

"_Well, you'll have to add Master to her list of responsibilities." _Rider responded with the impression of a shrug. Medusa didn't know whether to feel happy or shocked. There were now 4 students at her school who were involved in the War and, if this kept up, she expected all of them would be children. Still, this was an opportunity she couldn't miss.

Ignoring the terrified looks of her colleagues, she rushed to the courtyard. Had it been anyone else, they would have crashed into either another person or the walls, but between her abilities as a Magus, albeit not all that based on body Reinforcement, and having spent most of her life running from things, she could handle the wide school corridors.

Just as she arrived at the entrance, she saw Medea enter the school. With an entirely too innocent smile, she approached the blue haired girl.

"Medea, may I have a minute," she asked, looking at the other girl's hands, hidden behind gloves. The Council President was about to retort, a frown almost indistinct on her features, when she suddenly widened her eyes. Taking that as a sign that her Servant was talking to her, she invited the girl to a small room at the side.

Medea hesitated. Medusa could see the girl run the information through her brain, straightening up and giving her a serious, intense look that bordered on a glare. Still, she followed carefully, drawing shocked looks from the student population. Medusa couldn't help the smirk that came to her face. The rumours would be glorious.

They settled in the small room, Medusa claiming the top of a desk for herself while Medea took a chair and placed it in front of the desk. The former enjoyed being the superior in any conversation and this was no different. The latter clearly didn't like the idea, but she had accepted it for now.

"So, I see you've got yourself a Servant," Medusa said, going for shock and awe. Judging by Medea's startled look, the tactic was working. "Welcome to the club. There are now four Masters in this school."

Medea took her statement like a punch to the gut. The girl had paled, her face slightly open as if preparing to deny it. However, she didn't. If the Council President had one quality that put her at the top of the most dangerous people in the school, it was her ability to listen, accept and come to conclusions no matter how preposterous the situation was. Apparently, a War between magi fought with ghosts of heroes-and monsters, if Sakura was any indication-still wasn't enough to break her.

"I see," she replied, shaky but determined. "You are one of them, aren't you? A...magus, I think he called them?" Making that statement, she drew a small knife from a pouch tied to her waist. Medusa did not take out her own knife, but did tense slightly, preparing herself for a possible, if unlikely confrontation. "I will not allow you to harm the students of this school!"

Taken aback, she barely dodged the slash that cut into the desk. She rolled on the ground, using the momentum to get back to her feet. _Rider, keep her Servant away, but don't interfere, _she sent her message, receiving an unsure nod as reply. With that problem taken care of, she turned to Medea, who was struggling to get her knife out of the desk. She was succeeding, too, until Medusa decided to put her hand over the girl's own, pinning it in place.

"Stop before you get yourself hurt," Medusa whispered, slightly reinforcing her arm to further make her point. She didn't want to hurt the girl, but she had no other choice. "Fights between Masters are supposed to occur at night, preferably in abandoned or at least non-residential areas." A bit of an exaggeration, most magi didn't care about collateral damage all that much after all, but keeping the War and, more importantly, magecraft secret was paramount. The girl didn't need to know that, though.

"How do I know you won't try to feed our colleagues to your Servant?" That reply had been almost expected, but the girl's ability to question her even when she was at her mercy was praiseworthy.

"I don't need to," Medusa replied, somewhat honestly. "I have plenty of prana to feed my Servant. Now, you, on the other hand, might need to feed your own, since he looks about a hair's breadth away from disappearing." The latter conclusion came from the fact that Sakura was able to hold him off without even moving from her side. The other Servant was either ridiculously weak, an Assassin, empty of prana, or all three.

Judging by Medea's lack of reaction she had realised as much, in both cases. Now the question was what she planned to do about it. Medusa could fit her alliance offer around Medea's plans with ease, even push her in certain directions if the situation looked like it took a bad turn.

"I would never do that to an innocent person! I would rather die," Medea shouted, glaring at the Matou girl. Medusa simply raised an eyebrow, preparing her response. She also let go of the girl. Who proceeded to step back, holding her now swollen hand.

"Who said anything about innocent people? There are plenty of guilty criminals around this town. Most wouldn't be sorely missed," she responded, keeping herself calm as much as possible. She knew this could go both ways, but she had to take the risk. Medea was a moral person, but she could be pragmatic when push came to stove.

"S-still, killing people is wrong!" Medusa smirked as she received the moral response. It wasn't nearly as powerful as it could have been. The idea had visibly taken place in the girl's head.

She shifted her eyes to Assassin and Rider, both of whom had stopped their battle. Medea's Servant was clearly evaluation his options, whether to save his Master and run away, or to attack directly and hope to kill her in one hit. She needed to end this quickly.

"Regardless, the actual reason I called you out was to propose an alliance," she said. Medea tried to respond, but Medusa lifted a hand to cut her off. "Do not give me your answer now. After school, we shall talk more." She made to leave, but stopped shortly after passing by Assassin. "By the way, the other two Masters in this school are already allied. One of them is Tohsaka-san."

She heard a gasp, but did not turn around. She left the girl to her thinking, hoping she wouldn't try to make contact with Shirou. He might just turn her plans to dust and create a triple alliance that would allow him to win the war, but at least he would acknowledge her.

Honestly, she was scared by how much she wished for that.

* * *

"You are planning to interfere in this War, despite not being a magus," Hassan asked, more for confirmation than actual inquiry, his grandson. Shinji turned to his grandfather with a smile.

"Ah, I'm merely supporting Medusa from the sidelines. After all, she isn't all that good at intrigue, despite what she may try to show. She can be subtle, but all she sees is the short-term," he offered as explanation. Hassan couldn't help but feel proud of his grand-parenting skills. Too bad the boy didn't have Magical Circuits, he would've made a good Magus.

Then again, there were advantages to their current situation. Who would expect weak, magicless Shinji Matou to be part of the War?

"Yet you haven't told her a thing about your plans. What if she makes a move contrary to your own?" Shinji took the reply well, sitting down on one of the many chairs around the table. The Matou living room was quite spacious, despite the high number of pieces of furniture, mostly drawers filled with antiques. Some of them were Mystic Codes, but most were just objects that had minor sentimental importance. The Matou family used to be quite big and Hassan alone had been to several places all around the world, collecting souvenirs and trophies.

In a way, it was funny that all the trips he had done for magi purposes made it easier for him to integrate in non-magical society. If a normal person stepped inside that room, they would just see all sorts of trinkets gathered from all over the world. Interesting, but not suspicious. Unlike the Tohsaka or the Einzbern, the Matou were not fans of grandiose architecture.

"I know her quite well, you see. She is very focused on Tohsaka, so her first move will be an attempt to create a team to counter the Tohsaka-Emiya alliance. To this end, she will most likely roam the streets at night in search for other Masters," Shinji's voice had taken a smug tone. "Assuming she finds one, which is quite improbable, she will try to convince said Master to join her. If she manages to do it, great, we've got two allies. If not, she still has our friend to come to her rescue,"

Hassan took a seat in front of his grandson and clasped his hands together, his elbows on the chair's arms. He kept eye contact throughout the whole movement, looking for signs of nervousness, yet found only a smirk.

"And where exactly did you learn of this Tohsaka-Emiya alliance, or even that Emiya was a Master in the first place?" Hassan narrowed his eyes and Shinji visibly startled. "That is surprisingly accurate information for someone who has no familiars, no Servant and is incapable of scrying. One could almost believe you found out from the individuals themselves," his tone turned accusing, but Shinji frowned in confusion.

"What purpose would there be in aligning myself to the Tohsaka? Are they not our rivals in the Grail War?" Shinji replied, crossing his hand over his chest. Hassan wasn't impressed.

"The very same could be said about the Einzbern, could it not?" he responded with a raised eyebrow. Shinji seemed quite defensive about the Tohsaka. Or perhaps it was the Emiya? "One could in fact claim we are closer to the Tohsaka and the Emiya. Both you and Medusa are friends with the girl and Medusa might still have...attachments to the Tohsaka," he continued, his tone calmer. It was good to see that the boy didn't react to his mention of the Einzbern, but his reaction to his mention of Emiya's friendship was actually interesting.

He had cared little what Shinji had done in his life up until the last few days, but he had still kept himself informed. There was no such thing as too paranoid when it came to magi. Besides, it provided a distraction from thinking about the rather disastrous track record his family had so far. He had spent a lot of time thinking and rethinking exactly where everything went down the drain. How they had fallen from a family on equal footing with the Einzbern to two children, one of whom could barely use formalcraft, and himself, who should have been dead a long time ago. How, despite being one of the founders of the Holy Grail War, they had never even gotten to the final battle.

Thinking about that made him sick, but he couldn't help it. Distractions were dime a dozen, thankfully, but he also needed to think about his research. Not that he had made any breakthroughs in the last fifty or so years. His enthusiasm had hit rock bottom a long time ago. Immortality seemed less and less appealing the more time went on, but he was too far gone to stop. He needed to at least ensure the continuation of the family line, be it through Medusa or Shinji. He had put as much as possible of their Magic Crest in Medusa, which was almost all of it except for a few things he had kept out. There was some more...personal information that he didn't want the girl to know.

Leaving his tangent aside he waited for his grandson to respond. The boy had clenched his teeth, obviously holding in some remarks. Whatever he had wanted to say, Shinji seemed to cool down slowly, returning to his cold persona. Hassan filed that away in case he ever needed to use his temper against him.

"True, I befriended Artu-Emiya, but I only did so because it was advantageous at the time. She was a useful ally at school, but in the War? She is a novice who is being led around like a lost puppy by Tohsaka! And I would rather die than ally myself to that crazy fool," Shinji replied, his tone going up, before returning to muttering for the last sentence. Hassan looked him in the eye, searching for any signs of deception on his part. The boy seemed somewhere between disgusted and angry. But there was a hint of something else. Jealousy.

Suddenly, the picture became clear. "_You poor fool." _he thought, shaking his head. Truly, their family was cursed. He knew better than anyone just what the boy was going through, after all. _"__Oh, __Illyasviel__, how unfair can this War be? Have we truly created such a monstrosity?"_

"I see. Then, I wish you luck. I do suggest collaborating more closely with your sister, however. She might just surprise you," he said, as a familiar relayed the meeting between his granddaughter and the other Master to him. Shinji just shrugged non-committally.

* * *

For what had to be the hundredth time that week, Shirou sighed heavily. The Holy Grail War had begun, so he would normally be out in the city, searching for other Masters, their bases, their Servants, anything. Instead, he was sitting down on one of the chairs that still remained despite the damage his living room had incurred. The place looked better then it had last night, but that wasn't a particularly high standard.

Trying not to think too much of the money it would cost to repair the furniture, to the extent that it could be repaired, he poured himself another cup of tea. It calmed him down a bit, which was quite necessary after the excitement of the previous day. Even sleep hadn't been able to cool him down, not with everything in such precarious balance.

Arturia was asleep and wouldn't wake up for another few hours. Honestly, he couldn't imagine her getting up that day, but she was quite full of surprises. To think she had used Magecraft with such a dangerous method. Creating a Magical Circuit every time she cast a spell? It was a miracle she hadn't killed herself, what had her teacher been thinking?

Her Servant, Saber, was his own kind of weird. Apparently he was a knight of the Round Table, which after a bit of research turned out quite the fascinating story. He wasn't usually mentioned in the stories because he died quite early on. In fact, it was quite possible he had never even seen Excalibur. He apparently refused to follow an order given by King Arthur because of either an oath or a too rigid moral code, the sources just couldn't agree on a reason, and was promptly executed. Not something you would want to put in a fairy tale about the noble knights and kings. Why he was named Shirou was anyone's guess, since there were few words that it could be derived from and it didn't sound all that Britannic, Celtic or even Anglo-Saxon.

His own Servant was at the same time very open and very mysterious. She openly told him her abilities, her Noble Phantasms, her skills, even gave some short snippets of her experience from back when she was alive. On the other hand, she refused to reveal her name, where she was from, what her legend was or anything that could give him a clue of who she really was. What he did know, however, was that he had hit quite the jackpot: she was able to use the Kaleidoscope by activating either of her Noble Phantasms, which elevated her from superior Magus to Magician. Even if it was limited, the Second Magic was not something to joke with. He was worried that it might attract the Wizard Marshall himself, which would be bad on so many levels he was considering locking down the two.

All in all, he was in quite the situation, but it was far from unmanageable. This alliance would be enough to deter most enemies from attacking them straight out, especially in their own base, one with a Caster inside. Honestly, he doubted anyone would try anything even without Saber around. Assaulting Caster's home turf was generally a horrible idea, especially after seeing what she can pull in combat.

Said Caster was currently trying to multi-task a lot of standard opening moves for a Holy Grail War. She had sent familiars to check the important areas of the city, reinforced the barriers around the mansion, started looking for counters against heroes they had already met and who knows what else. Shirou was starting to feel quite useless, which he hated to the core. He couldn't even help Arturia recover unless he wanted to waste his precious jewels.

Noticing that he had finished his tea, Shirou stood up and went to check on the unconscious girl. Not that she could wake up any time soon, but it beat staying on a chair all day.

* * *

Hercules was restless. It was a normal thing for him, especially since coming to Fuyuki. The one who had stolen his father from him was so close, he could almost feel her. There was nothing he wanted to do more than go and exact his revenge.

"Think before you act," his Servant repeated, her tone sounding far too close to his actual mother for comfort. Even if they were technically similar, except for the fact her mother had been a homunculus.

"I've spent enough time thinking. We need to go take them down while they are weak. If we leave them alone any longer, they will grow even stronger," he replied, watching the house up the hill carefully. Sure, it was so covered in all types of barriers it could probably kill him if he tried to break through. But he had a Servant, so that shouldn't have been a problem.

"Honestly, are you really going to charge into a veritable minefield, put together by what is most definitely a Caster? We have no idea what awaits us inside, for all we know there are four of them in there," his Servant was starting to sound quite annoyed, but he didn't care one bit. If she kept this up, he would just use a Command Seal to force her to do it. Just as he lifted his arm, more for form then anything else, he found himself held on all sides.

He couldn't even see the wires, but they cut into his skin, holding his hands close to his body, his throat constricted. He couldn't even wince, let alone move. Still, he could save himself, if only he used the Command Seals. Yes, he would tell her to let him go...

She promptly slapped him with about a quarter of her power. Enough to render a normal human unconscious, maybe even kill a particularly frail one. Despite being a homunculus and a Magus, he couldn't help the small shriek that came through his throat.

"Listen here, Hercules von Einzbern! If you think that just because you are my Master you can order me around, you have another thing coming," she manifested fully in front of him, standing in front of him even as she pulled her wires to get him to look down at her. "I am Illyasviel von Einzbern, user of Heaven's Feel, Master of Northern Alchemy and Heroic Spirit Archer. If you think for just one second you can bind me to your will, I might as well kill you, lest your stupidity becomes contagious," she finished, pulling tighter on the wires. Hercules couldn't respond, courtesy of a lack of air. In fact, his vision was darkening. Everything seemed to go slower as he closed his eyes.

Then his face suddenly hit the ground with a thud, waking him up. He coughed, trying to fill his lungs with fresh air. He glared at Archer, but she had already gone into Astral form. He snarled, took another look at the Tohsaka mansion and stood up to head home.

They would come out eventually.

* * *

Status UP:

**Archer:**

**True Name: Illyasviel von Einzbern**

**Master: Hercules von Einzbern**

**Sex: Female**

**Alignment: Lawful Neutral**

**Strength: C**

**Endurance: D**

**Agility: C**

**Magic: A+**

**Luck: E**

**NP: E-B+**

**Noble Phantasm: Heaven's Feel: **Allows for materialization of the soul, essentially realising true immortality by bringing the soul to a higher plane of existence and stopping it's dispersion. It may be used to bring a soul back, assuming a body is available, or simply make the soul physical. Also known as the Third Magic. No one in the current age is capable of using it, except for the homunculus of the Einzbern, and only by using the Heaven's Dress and/or a fully powered Holy Grail.

* * *

A/N: At this point, apologising for the long wait is getting dull. As always, I hope the next one will go up in less than three months, but I am definitely not making any promises. Hope you enjoyed it anyway.


	7. Chapter 7

**War Preparations**

"No, I haven't seen Tohsaka-san today. He hasn't shown up all day, in fact, President," one of the students responded. His classmates agreed with his statements, bringing up theories for Shirou's absence. They ranged from "He got sick, hopefully something incurable and lethal" to "He eloped with Arturia and fled the country".

"Wait, why with Arturia?" Medea's gaze turned to the one who had presented that conspiracy. She was Kaede Makidera, the track team's best sprinter. Shirou had told her once that he was slightly scared of the "Black Panther", as she was nicknamed. While he had refused to elaborate, Medea had kept it in mind.

"Huh," the girl replied, slightly surprised at being chosen. "Well, President, they are both absent today, which is a bizarre coincidence, and I've heard several people claim they walked home together," she continued, a big grin on her face.

Medea frowned, taking the information into consideration. On one hand, 'several people' was a loose term and the rumour mill had made up bigger stories. On the other, it was more than a coincidence if what Medusa had claimed was true. Now the question was, what had happened?

For a second, the idea that Shirou could have killed Arturia passed through her mind. If he was really a Magus, it was entirely plausible that he had eliminated her because she had seen something she shouldn't have. She shelved the idea, not wanting to jump to conclusions too rapidly.

Indeed, she didn't even know if Tohsaka was a Magus. Trusting Medusa was not exactly easy, not with her reputation. However, this did give her the opportunity to check.

"I see. While I doubt that is true, I will handle their assignments," she said, receiving a stack of papers from the Class Representative. Handling this part was one of her responsibilities, even if she shared it with each Class' Representative. She would have to go to Arturia's class and ask the same thing. With a short "Goodbye," she left the classroom.

Assassin was in the hallway, familiarising himself with the area. A logical move, given his class. She had no doubt he would be able to kill anyone in the building and make it look like an accident. Or a suicide. Holding such power at her fingertips was almost overwhelming. One order, and anyone she disliked would be killed, with no way of tracing the murder back to her.

Not that she would do something like that. She had entered the War with the express purpose of minimising casualties. As Medusa had shown, not everyone was as moral as her, if morality even registered as a concept for Magi.

Shaking her head, she brought her thoughts back on track. Assassin; far more powerful than any human being, yet slightly weaker than his fellow Heroic Spirits. Not exactly the most useful when it came to saving people. He had no healing abilities, wasn't quite enduring enough to take hits for them, had a skill set best described as 'kill everything as quickly as possible' and no way to hypnotise or otherwise erase the memories of witnesses.

What he could do, however, was finish fights before they started. As far as she understood, battles between Servants were a mess. They tended to destroy everything in the surrounding area, including witnesses and even people who were just sleeping. Medusa had pointed out that fights didn't usually happen in residential areas, which she was thankful for. Still, the best way to avoid victims of collateral damage was to kill the Master before the battle started. Without a Master, Heroic Spirits couldn't remain in the world.

As such, her strategy was simple: find out who the Masters are, wait until they are defenceless, kill as quickly and silently as possibly, hopefully without revealing herself. A simple strategy, in theory. In practice, every step was a difficult one. Finding out someone is a Master without being discovered required a way to find out whether a person was a Master or not; finding them when they were defenceless required a way to pass through the spells-whatever they were called-while avoiding detection; killing them meant getting past their Servant, and pulling off an assassination before it could be called to help. She didn't even want to imagine how she would get away from that.

Picking up the papers was relatively straight-forward, even if might have raised a few eyebrows. Her reputation helped and so did the fact that she was, if not a friend, an acquaintance of Arturia's. She knew people would notice if she gave too much attention to the topic, so she was as efficient and quick as possible, without seeming in a hurry.

She had a plan, after all. First, she would visit the Emiya household. If Arturia wasn't there, she would check the Tohsaka home. After that, she would have a talk with Medusa about her findings. Finally, depending on the result of her search, she would spend the night either patrolling or holed up in the temple, which was apparently surrounded by a magical barrier of some sort according to Assassin. One way or another, she was entering the War.

* * *

Arturia woke with a start. This time, it took her but a few seconds to notice her location. She was in the same bed as before, could still feel Saber in the corner. Turning around, she found herself staring at a surprising image: Shirou was asleep on a chair next to her bed. She could see dark circles underneath his eyes and his hair and clothes were dishevelled, to say the least.

"Good to see you awake once again, Master," Saber stated, approaching her bed carefully. She turned to him, hearing her neck strain slightly. His eyes briefly took in Tohsaka, before he sighed and shook his head. "Caster's Master had been observing you for about an hour before his exhaustion overtook him." He stopped, as if straining to admit his feelings. "For a magus to do such a thing...I am pleasantly surprised."

Arturia couldn't help the small smile that came to her. Despite the weirdness of the situation, it was good to know her ally cared for her. Even if it was a bit awkward, him watching her sleep. She briefly considered waking him, but he seemed like he could use the rest.

"What about Caster herself? Where is she?", she asked her Servant, who reacted by grimacing. Between that statement and his actions, she concluded he'd had some bad experiences with magi before.

"She was outside last time I checked. Strengthening the barriers, checking the surroundings, putting up some terrifying Bounded Fields," he listed, before stopping with a shiver. "Loath as I am to admit it, I would rather not have her as an enemy. Even with my magic resistance, her magecraft could probably end me if I tried to charge into this residence."

Saber's statements were equally worrying and relieving. On one hand, Caster was definitely an opponent they couldn't afford to underestimate. Regardless of her wishes to the contrary, there would be only one winner left standing at the end of the Holy Grail War. On the other, their base was as safe as it could be, given the circumstances. Not having to deal with another enemy Master storming the household was a blessing, as it allowed them to fight the War on their terms.

With a small groan, she lifted herself off the bed. Her muscles didn't really agree with her but she couldn't care less about their opinions. After shaking her hands and legs for a few seconds to ensure she had full reign of movement, she decided Shirou could probably use the bed, now that it was unoccupied.

Carrying him would not have been easy, but she had an ace up her sleeve: Reinforcement. Her Circuits were still in pain, but it was more like soreness than actual ache. Taking a deep breath, she fired up her Circuits. There was a bit of pain, but to be a magus is to walk with death, this was manageable. She reinforced her arms, making sure not to put too much prana into them. The last thing she needed was for them to explode.

Thankfully, she was successful, as she could feel her tendons and muscles become more durable, yet more flexible. Picking up Shirou was astonishingly easy, as she almost threw him instead of lifting him. With care, she put him down on the bed, ignoring the giggling from somewhere in the room.

"My, my, you are quite tender with the boy," a somewhat familiar voice rang from the doorway. Arturia turned towards Caster, looking around Saber, who had stepped in between them. "Does someone have a little crush?"

For Arturia, the question came completely out of left field. It took her several seconds to process it, then she suddenly could feel the blood rush to her face. She tried to say something, but found herself at a loss for words. As she stood, her mouth half open, Saber throwing her a shocked look, she saw Caster's giggle turn to chuckles and stop just before full blown laughter. Arturia took in a deep breath and drew her mind away from her fellow Master.

"That is not true, I am merely worried for my ally," she replied, looking into Caster's eyes. She could see mirth there, but also a few other emotions she couldn't quite perceive. The staring contest lasted only a few seconds, as Arturia saw no reason to continue it, turning her gaze to Shirou instead. The boy had turned around in his sleep, adopting a more comfortable position.

"I see," Caster said, walking up beside her. Saber did the same, but on her right side. The two also shared a glance, but without exchanging words. "Then let us turn to more important events: there are two other Masters at school, one of which you have already met."

Arturia took a second to remember what had happened the previous evening. The battle against the two other Masters, one of which was her friend, Medusa. Had Medusa joined the war willingly? It was part of what she did, getting into fights and other trouble, but this was a step beyond that. This War was a battle of magi, one that would leave only one person standing.

She had been able to stop her last time, but harming her was a whole other matter. She had little doubt on the matter: she could never kill her. Killing other people was already a hard sell, as her whole being was focused on being a hero. One that only brought joy, never pain. To harm one of- no, her dearest friend? War or not, she was incapable of such an act.

"Also," Caster continued, forcing Arturia to return to the present, "both the Matou and the Einzbern have joined the War. In fact, they appear to have made a deal of some sort."

"Sorry," Saber interrupted, a frown on his face. "But who are these Matou and Einzbern?" Both women stopped for a second, but Arturia spoke first. She hadn't realized it at first, but Caster was giving a lot of information that she wouldn't normally know. Even if she had spread her Familiars all over the city, finding out about the school and the two families so quickly was worrying.

"How exactly did you come by all this information?" she asked, tensing up. Had their minds been probed? She was unsure whether such an act was possible, but she was dealing with a Heroic Spirit, and they were capable of many things.

Yet Caster seemed completely unsurprised at her unspoken accusation. She sighed as if in boredom, before adopting a weird pose, one hand over her chest and the other resting on it and pointing up. Then she took a deep breath and, in one breath, explained it all.

"The Holy Grail grants me information of the modern world, I know about your school because I looked for others with your uniforms and I know about the families because Master told me," she finished, bowing her head slightly as if waiting for applause. Faced with the quick, simple answer, Arturia had little choice but to accept. She looked over at Saber, who seemed slightly wary, but mostly confused.

"The Matou, the Einzbern and the Tohsaka were the three families that came together to create the ritual that is The Holy Grail War. That...monster we faced was Matou's Servant," Caster explained to Saber, whose eyes narrowed at the pause in her speech. Arturia herself couldn't help but notice how Caster's expression changed when she mentioned the Servant. Had they perhaps known each other in life? While unlikely, it was far from impossible.

"Given that Tohsaka is your Master, I suppose we've created a nice counter balance to that team. But what of the other Master that attacked us?" Saber asked, seemingly entering a planning mode. Arturia, on the other hand, had never done anything like this before. She watched with surprise the chemistry between Caster and Saber: the former had information and the latter was trying to catch up; the former had ideas, the latter was forming plans; the former kept jumping to conclusions, the latter kept everything logical.

"I believe it would be best to capture Ryudo Temple. A Master has set up camp there, and it would be best to take them out before they fortify their position," Caster said with fervour. Arturia could see her point but Saber interrupted before she could respond.

"We would be spreading ourselves very thin. Besides, why not wait for them to reveal themselves? They can't stay in the temple forever. We just need to wait until they are unprotected." Saber counter-argued, stepping in front of Arturia. The Master didn't have time to interject this time, either.

"If we wait too long, they might find allies and set up defences and supply systems that would allow them to hold the Temple for a very long time. Waiting until the big battles have boiled over and attacking the weakened combatants is a true and tried tactic," Caster replied, cooling down over the course of her speech. Arturia couldn't help but see her point again: she had no wish to attack a well defended magi workshop; Kiritsugu had hammered on that point quite a few times. Saber didn't seem half as impressed.

"Which is why we must strike while they are trying to set up these defences. They will require materials that can only be found in the city, where we can attack them while they least expect it. Setting up an ambush isn't very noble, but if necessary we can easily do it," Saber countered yet again, but this time Arturia managed to intervene herself.

"That would mean putting the lives of these in the market at risk. What if they are caught in the crossfire? Besides, this war is supposed to be secret," she said, watching Saber stop. He, too, seemed to regard this as impermissible, as he backed down visibly.

"One way or another, this will have to wait until Master wakes up," Caster concluded with swing of her hand. "In the mean time, it might be wise to wait and prepare. I'm sure you can find something to do around here. While under normal circumstances you should be out patrolling, I suggest waiting until we can do so together. Otherwise, you are painting a big target on yourself."

Nodding in agreement, Arturia turned to Saber. He looked back, expecting orders. A knight that specialised in using swords, that had presumably done deeds worthy of being called a Heroic Spirit. She knew exactly what she wanted from him.

"Would you train me, Saber?"

* * *

They moved quickly, spreading over the area. Looking for targets, beings on which they could feed. There was one, but no, that was their Master, they needed her alive to maintain them. Slowly, they crawled around, looking for lifeforms. There were few, but they were there. Out of sight, they approached, waiting until they were certain the prey wouldn't get away.

Then, they appeared and launched themselves at them.

"AHHH!" the terrified shouts were of no concern to them. However, just in case, some embedded into the prey's mouth. Her movement was panicked, but fruitless. They would consume her regardless. It took but a few minutes for the targets to stop moving. All three souls were consumed, giving them energy, power. The swarm grew, members entering the bodies and hatching inside.

Soon, more targets were found. This group was bigger, it's members seemed more well prepared for an attack. Once again they manoeuvred themselves: below, above and next to the targets. When they were prepared, they struck.

There were five targets: two were male, useless for hatching but good for energy. They were devoured quickly, so as not to fight back. They were surprisingly weak, fell in mere seconds. The three female, however, were kept. They would be useful for increasing their number. Their souls would be consumed at a later date. First, they needed to be brought back to their nest, where they wouldn't be found.

Another target was found. This one seemed alone, but there was a spiritual power surrounding her. They could feel it, no matter how well the target hid itself. As they approached, they discovered to their shock that the targets could detect them. The spiritual being came into physical form, crushing several members in mere seconds. The human being retreated with full speed, but they did not care for that prey at the moment. The once spiritual target was moving at speeds they had never seen humans move, not even the one who had once destroyed them.

Before they had time to counter-attack, the prey ran away, jumping away from their sight and resuming spiritual form. Rage consumed the survivors: they were no small bugs to be smashed by their prey! They came together, using almost all the energy they had received from feeding to form something greater, something that could help them destroy and consume their predator.

They came together, worms piling on top of each other, using magecraft to return to their original form, the one they had left long ago. Slowly, a human looking being was formed and, with a furious yell, Zouken returned to life. He was them, he was the swarm, he was Berserker.

* * *

**Status UP!**

**Berserker:**

**Master: **?

**Real Name: **Zouken

**Alignment: **Chaotic Evil

**Strength: **E(D)

**Endurance: **F(E)

**Agility: **D(C)

**Magic: **C(B)

**Luck: **F(E)

**NP: **D(C)

**Noble Phantasm: All Consuming Worms: **A swarm of worms that consume beings, particularly humans. They use the females to reproduce and consume the men. They exist under a sort of hive mind, with Zouken as the Queen(or rather, King) of the swarm.

* * *

**A/N: **Somehow, I managed to keep my promise. Should probably thank my fissured leg for that. The next one is going to come in about the same time, i.e. three months.


	8. Chapter 8

**Preparing to fight monsters**

The streets were almost completely empty. The few people left seemed to be heading home or taking one last drink. One way or another, none of them cared that Medea was running like the devil was on her tail. Not a soul tried to ask her what she was running from or if she was in a hurry.

She was quite thankful for that. Explaining why she looked and felt like she had ran a marathon would be complicated at best. Her lungs and her legs were tired and, now that the adrenaline was wearing off, her side was in serious pain. She barely stifled a gasp of pain as rounded a corner and stopped, leaning on the wall. Her knees gave out and she fell on her butt, taking deep breaths to refill her lungs and calm down.

_'Easier said than done,'_ she thought with a grimace. She took a look at the street behind her, not seeing any sign of Assassin or the worms. She hoped her Servant was alright, but there was nothing she could do to help him except for staying out of his way.

"What are you doing?" a voice came from behind her, scaring her out of her wits. She turned around and jumped back, only to relax upon seeing Medusa's worried face. Now that was something she never thought would happen.

"Hiding. Assassin and I ran into another Servant, or something," she replied, picking herself off the ground. Medusa's worry turned into shock and a woman appeared next to her. The white hair and dark aura would have given away her Servant status even if she hadn't appeared out of nowhere.

"I can sense them both," the woman said, frowning deeply. "Or rather, I can sense a lot of them. Either your Servant or the enemy's must be able to duplicate." Medusa's questioning glance prompted Medea to shake her head. Assassin had not mentioned anything similar to a multiplication spell. Indeed, he was almost completely human in that regard.

"Hm, Saber, Caster, Rider, Assassin and Lancer are accounted for. That leaves Archer and Berserker, assuming no one tried to summon some unusual Class," Medusa concluded, stepping up to the road. She seemed unconcerned, but Medea wasn't fooled: there was a shaking in her voice, her eyes moved quickly all around. There was no doubt that the girl was worried.

Then again, she was no better. She looked at her still trembling hands and took a deep breath. She couldn't afford to cower away, she had joined a War, she had to endure. Steeling her features, she stepped up next to Medusa. Concentrating, she looked for Assassin, their bond telling her he was close. Her glance travelled from the street to the top of the buildings, but she could not see any sign of him. She risked a look to the side, to see Medusa holding a strange ornament: a bird seeming made of purple gemstones, with shiny eyes and flapping wings. It was moving weirdly, not naturally but still with a sense of reason.

"This is one of Tohsaka's familiars," Medusa stated, revealing she had noticed her look. The term familiar was one she had little idea about, but she could tell it was some sort of assistant. Had Shirou really built that thing? She knew about his gem collecting hobby, but the idea it had anything to do with his magecraft had slipped beneath her notice.

"I don't know, it feels too powerful for a normal magus," Medusa's Servant replied with a frown. She traced a finger along the wing, which seemed to stop moving upon being touched. "No, this is more like Caster's work. She also used gems in her magecraft."

Medea would have asked some more questions regarding why they were holding an enemy familiar, but the sound of footsteps distracted her. Turning around, she saw Assassin land in front of her. He had clearly been injured, but bruises weren't likely to appear on his body. It was his pained look and ragged breath that told her he had taken a few hits. For a second, as he noticed their allies, he tensed up, only to relax slightly when he took note of their distraction.

"Did you see the enemy?" Medusa asked, with a demanding tone that Medea didn't like one bit. Assassin nodded, but did not reveal any details, instead looking at her. She wasn't sure what he wanted, as there was clearly a question in gaze. Did he not trust their new allies? Well, she didn't either, but they had to cooperate. She nodded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It appears to be Servant Berserker, as they show no rational thought before attacking. It seems that the Servant is composed of several small creatures, all of which act as one. I believe you would call them a hive mind," he explained, asking for confirmation on the proper usage of the term. To Medea, it sounded crazy. A swarm of those things that had tried to attack her, all acting in tandem? What kind of Hero was that?

"Strange. I cannot think of any hero with such a description," Medusa replied thoughtfully, briefly glancing at the familiar. Her Servant's face had turned into a grimace that made Medea suspicious. Did she know of this hero? Perhaps Medusa was lying to her about the enemy and had full knowledge of what they were dealing with. Indeed, maybe it was a plan to eliminate her from the War. Working together with the bug monsters, the delinquent could take down her Servant before he had a chance to kill her.

However, she was in no position to act. If she tried to eliminate Medusa now, her Servant would no doubt defend her and she had no idea if Assassin could defeat her. Even assuming he could, Berserker would chase them down soon. The only rational option was to trust her ally, defeat the new enemy and then consider her options.

She turned to Medusa, determined to put an end to this madness. She wouldn't allow that monster to kill any more innocent people, even if she had to work together with her old enemy. She had entered the War to help people and she would do so as long as she could.

"We need to take it down," she said, staring Medusa straight in the eye. The girl seemed surprised for a second before sighing resignedly.

"Why am I not surprised?" she glanced at their Servants again with a worried frown. Medea followed her look, noticing just how tired Assassin appeared. Medusa's Servant, and she really had to ask what her class was, did not look all that enthusiastic either, crossing her arms over her chest while small shadows seemed to rise and fall around her.

"I don't know whether you care, but I have no intention of letting that thing kill anyone else while I can do something about it. You either help me, or you're on your own," she made a sweeping motion with her hand so as to emphasize her point.

Silence reigned for a few seconds as they kept eye contact, seemingly engaging in a silent conversation. It was a battle of stubbornness, of dedication and of sheer willpower. Neither moved an inch. In the end, Medusa looked away.

"Fine. We will deal with Berserker."

* * *

Caster knew she seemed calm. If one were to study her from the outside, she would seem almost too calm, as if she had been petrified. But inside, she was spinning at the speed of sound. Rider and Assassin were teaming up to fight Berserker, who was apparently a legendary version of Zouken. If the Heroic Spirit was anything like the magus she used to know, this was a threat of the highest calibre. And now he was killing people left and right, growing stronger each time he fed. If he were to devour two Heroic Spirits...

She glanced up at the her allies, who were circling each other in preparation. They each held a wooden sword, Saber's being an exact copy of Arturia's. The Servant of the Sword was vastly different from EMIYA and Shirou, but his magecraft didn't change. She could only assume this version also had a Reality Marble he would pull out when things got dicey.

As she pondered, she saw Saber begin the practice match by charging straight at his Master. He attacked from the left at a speed far lower than what he could truly achieve, but as Arturia raised her sword to parry, he changed course and struck from the opposite direction. The girl barely blocked the attack, being pushed backwards by the power behind it. He did not let down, however, closing in instantly and slashing downwards. Once again, Arturia moved her sword in position only just in time to stop the blow, gnashing her teeth at the sheer force behind each hit. Pursuing his advantage, Saber launched a thrust to her chest. Out of position and on shaky footing, she had no way to block the strike. No normal human could.

"Burst, away"

Just as the strike approached, Arturia's hand glowed green and she suddenly doubled her speed. Her bokken hit Saber's, pushing it off course in an overextended parry. For a second, Saber seemed defenceless, clearly caught off guard. But he wasn't a Hero for nothing, bringing his sword back into position as Arturia hesitated, clearly unused to using Reinforcement in combat. That hesitation proved conclusive, as Saber's next slash, diagonally upwards and to the left, threw Arturia's sword out of her hand while also making her lose her balance.

The magus managed to regain her footing, but she knew she had lost. Then again, defeating a Servant was not something Caster could imagine the girl doing any time soon. Not when she hesitated like that in the middle of combat.

"I lost," Arturia said, taking a huge breath. There was an angry undertone to her words, and Caster could see her knuckles going white from the way her fists clenched. Clearly, the girl didn't like losing, even if it was against a hero of legend. Somehow, she wasn't surprised. She remembered the corrupted version that had served the Shadow, the one who had killed him. The one that she had sold her soul to defeat. She felt the desire to go there, take out her Gem Sword and destroy the one who had killed him, _he was supposed to be her breaks, he was all that held Sakura together, __**he...**_

She scoffed and turned her eyes away. This was another person, and even the original was not to blame. Angra Mainyu and Matou Zouken had been the ones to bring the situation about and she had no idea whether the former even existed in this timeline. The latter was a Heroic Spirit, although there didn't seem to be anything heroic about him, but who had replaced him? Arturia had taken Shirou's place, Shirou hers, Medusa Sakura's, Medea Issei's, Hercules Illyasviel's...

A shiver run down her spine. What if Zouken had been replaced by Angra Mainyu? It was unlikely, but if it happened, it would change everything. Whatever Zouken would have done was nothing compared to all the Evils of the World. Poor Rider-that is to say, Medusa. Then again, that would mean he wasn't in the Grail, so it might still be pure...

She shook her head and stood up. She needed to tell her allies about the situation, they might wish to interfere, if only to ensure Medusa and Medea weren't killed by Berserker. She had every intention of stopping that from happening, even if she had to eliminate the Servant herself.

* * *

_She was but a small child when her father died. He had fought in the War for glory and tradition, aided by a powerful Spirit. And yet, in spite of his power, knowledge and support, he lost. Her mother was crippled, and the girl remained under the guardianship of a false priest, who had once been her father's apprentice. Her sister was gone, given to a family that did not allow them to see each other._

_For the entirety of her childhood, she tried as hard as possible to act as a real magus. She was cold, rational, always the best at everything she did. She maintained her façade at all times, until she almost began to settle in. She trained and trained, preparing for the War she knew would come, the same one that had taken her father._

_She thought herself ready. She believed she could make the tough decisions, could steel herself to do what needed to be done. She summoned a powerful warrior, even if not the one she'd wanted, made a contract with him. All came crashing down when she saw that boy bleeding on the school floor. All her coldness, her objectivity was gone. She sacrificed her trump card to save a boy she barely knew. One that had witnessed something he shouldn't have, only to join the War himself._

_Before long, they were allies. Together, they fought to protect her sister._

_And yet, it all ended in tragedy..._

* * *

It was hard for him to admit, but the situation had gotten out of hand. Shinji strained to keep the smile on his face from slipping. He couldn't deny that he was afraid, but showing that to the heir of the Einzbern would have been a mistake. The homunculus, for he couldn't be anything else, towered over him without even using magic. If that wasn't enough, the boy could bet his life that the Servant was in close proximity, ready to end his life at a moments notice.

"Hello, Einzbern-san. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Shinji asked, going for a more formal approach. He needed to be serious about this if he wanted to live. Hercules did not seem the type to take his jokes in stride, but he could not afford to appear in a position of weakness. The last time they had met, he had used a Mystic Code he had 'borrowed' from home to make himself seem like a familiar. A useful tool to make others underestimate you, but also to fool them when sending a message. He'd taken that particular idea from his grandfather's journals.

"I want to know what I tied myself to, last time we spoke," Einzbern replied, his huge muscled hands crossed over his chest, seeking to intimidate. As if the intimidation could get any worse than knowing a Servant was somewhere in the room. "Where is this sister of yours? The Master you wished me to cooperate with against Emiya?"

Shinji barely resisted sighing. That was a far safer topic than anything he had imagined. Although he kind of regretted even mentioning the idea, he did need to cover all of his bases. He had no idea if he would live to see morning, what with the War going on. If he died, the least he could do was lend his sister a hand.

"She came to school, but left early. I would assume she's loitering downtown right now, scouting for enemy Servants," he said with a shrug. Einzbern did not seem impressed. He clicked his tongue, wondering what Medusa could be doing. _'What had she been planning? Oh, right…'_ "I suspect she is somewhere around the Emiya Residence."

Hercules' eyes widened and Shinji knew he had his full attention. The question was, what should he do with it? If he just handed over the information he knew, his value might disappear. There was only one way to keep this going.

"In fact, I will lead you there. School is over anyway." Shinji didn't consider it important to mention it had been over for hours and he was only still there because of the Kendo Club activities. It wasn't like the homunculus had any idea what school was like anyway.

Said homunculus simply grinned like a madman. For a moment it seemed like he would simply jump away, but some kind of wire wrapped around his legs, making him wince. He couldn't help but think that was his Servant. He filed away the information for future use. If there were disagreements there, they might just become useful in the long run. Or not. Such was the life of a participant in the Grail War with no Servant: all he could do was see what others did not and use it to his advantage. No one would mind Shinji asking stuff; it wasn't like he could do any damage. Nope, definitely not.

Shinji felt he should get a medal for not laughing diabolically at that thought.

* * *

Lancer observed the situation from the top of the tallest building she could find. It was not a pretty picture and she was sure that, had her Master been a real priest, he would have been disgusted by it as well. Instead, he seemed very interested in what was going on. Of course, that wasn't nearly as bad as Assassin's expression of pure delight at the situation.

"I don't know what I enjoy more," the Servant said with a big smile on his face. "Watching the terrified victims get eaten, or watching the Masters try pointlessly to stay composed."

Bazett wished to punch the sadistic bastard in the face. If it weren't for the fact that she knew damn well he could take her down in an instant, she likely would have already started swinging long ago. But she had first hand knowledge of just how ludicrously powerful he was. All of her attacks had been nothing more than pokes to him. His Black Keys were somehow even worse and she was sure that if one just grazed her, she would be gone in an instant.

All in all, she knew where she stood well enough to know she had nothing to stand on. Fragrach would only be an option in the last resort, and only if he threw those Keys at her. Anything else wouldn't work. One way or another, she had to endure the eccentricities of this so-called Heroic Spirit.

"While I cannot deny my enjoyment at the situation, I am afraid we will have to stop it," Gilgamesh said with a shake of his head. Assassin looked positively murderous. "If we allow this to continue, the non-magi will realise something is going on. Risking the exposure of magecraft is something we cannot allow, lest we want the Mage's Association knocking on our door."

Lancer allowed a small smile on her face. Sure, it was for all the wrong reasons, but she could finally save these people. She turned to her Master, expecting orders. Gilgamesh stared at her for a second, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Lancer, get the people in the immediate vicinity out of the way. Your runes should be effective in that regard." She nodded, pulling on her gloves. She could erase memories as well as any magus, but quicker. Implanting fake ones was more difficult, but she felt no need to go that far. "Assassin, if you would help the two Masters put down Berserker, before he consumes anyone too powerful, it will get this over with quicker. Put those Keys to good use. I will seal off the area with Magecraft." Assassin nodded his assent and all three jumped away.

Bazzet smiled and approached the first civilian right away. She had at least a dozen to deal with, best start with those in more dangerous areas. This one was already surrounded by several hidden worms. None of them could take a hit from her, however. The battle was over in seconds. She erased the last minute from his memories and sent him on his way, except in a rush he will not remember the reason for.

She would do so many more times that night.

* * *

**NO STATUS UP!**

* * *

**A/N: That took way longer than I meant it too, but hopefully the next one will be on schedule. As always, thank you for reading and let me whether you enjoyed the story. Or if you didn't, constructive criticism is more than welcome.**


End file.
